The EPA labels microplastics, pharmaceuticals as contaminants in drinking water

In response to public health concerns about microplastics and pharmaceuticals in the nation’s drinking water, the Trump administration for the first time placed them on the list of contaminants monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA announced the move Thursday, calling it a “historic step” for the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement, which often raises concerns about toxic chemicals and plastic pollution in our food and environment.

“For a long time, Americans have been concerned about plastics and pharmaceuticals in their drinking water. That ends today,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement.

The Safe Drinking Water Act requires the agency to publish an updated version of the Candidate Contaminant List every five years. Microplastics and pharmaceuticals appear on the next list, along with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, and other chemicals.

Their inclusion on the list gives local officials a tool to assess risks to their water supplies, the EPA says, and could set the stage for more research and regulatory action — but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee that will happen.

“This is an important first step, and I think we should be aware of that,” he said Sherri Masona researcher at Gannon University who has published studies on plastic pollution in freshwater.

However, some who have pushed for more federal action to protect drinking water see the move as a reckless attempt to play into MAHA’s base without taking strong action.

“I think it’s fair to call this theater,” he says Katherine O’Brienattorney with the Earthjustice advocacy group.

“It’s a distraction from the real danger that these organizations are doing to public health by undermining real legal protections against exposure to toxic chemicals in our drinking water, and in our food,” he added.

O’Brien and others representing environmental groups noted that the Trump administration has worked hard to roll back regulations on toxic chemicals in the environment, including PFAS in drinking water.

He points out that some of the “most well-known, highly toxic drinking water contaminants,” in some cases, have languished on the list for years.

Just last month, the EPA announced it it would not have performed any regulatory function related to the nine chemicals that were listed in the latest list of these wastes.

Environmental groups and a few rulers have just applied The EPA is including microplastics in the upcoming version of the Uncontrolled Pollution Monitoring Act, or UCMR, which the agency recently sent to the White House.

If microplastics are included in the update, the agency will be required to begin collecting data on the prevalence of microplastics in drinking water.

Mary Grant with Food & Water Watch, one of the groups lobbying the government, said it is still possible that the Trump administration will add microplastics to the UCMR, in addition to what it announced this week.

“We hope for both results, because on their own, this is not enough,” Grant says.

The process of gathering data – and making rules – for drinking water can drag on for years. Based on Thursday’s action alone, it could be a decade or more before the new regulations are implemented, Grant says.

“We need to understand the scale of our drinking water problem,” he says.

The draft list of Contaminated Candidates will be open for public comment for 60 days.