Concerns about microplastics and their effect on human and environmental health are no longer confined to academic literature or environmental advocacy. On April 6, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) elevated the issue in a way that makes it harder for the regulated community to address the issue of microplastics as largely academic or purely speculative. EPA has proposed to add microplastics, for the first time, as a priority contaminant group on the Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) 6 – Draft (draft CCL 6) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), while HHS launched the Systematic Targeting Of MicroPlastics (STOMP), a $144 million program focused on measuring, studying, and developing methods to remove microplastics and nanoplastics (MNP) from the human body. EPA expressly tied the move to the Trump Administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda. This initiative was made a week
