Michigan Environmental Groups Call for More Action on Microplastics as Federal EPA Designates Pollutants as Priority

State and Environmental Advocates Seek Stronger Monitoring Requirements Despite Federal Listing of Pollutants

LANSING — The Trump administration's announcement that it will add microplastics and pharmaceuticals to its list of drinking water pollutants has drawn mixed reactions in Michigan, with environmental groups and state officials calling for more aggressive monitoring and regulation.

The federal move, announced Thursday by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., designates microplastics and pharmaceuticals as priority contaminant groups under the Safe Drinking Water Act for the first time in the program's history. The announcement stops short of requiring immediate monitoring of the chemicals' presence in water systems — something Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and environmental groups have urged.

"For the first time in the program's history, EPA is designating both microplastics and pharmaceuticals as priority contaminant groups," Zeldin said. "EPA is sending a clear message. We will follow the science, we will pursue answers, and we will hold ourselves to the highest standards to protect the health of every American family."

The federal government will create a $144-million program called STOMP (Systematic Targeting of Microplastics) to study microplastics in the human body and drinking water. The program will focus on three questions: what is in the body, what's causing harm, and how do we remove it.

"We still do not have clear answers about causation or solutions," HHS Secretary Kennedy said. "We do not yet understand how these particles interact with the immune system, the endocrine system or the neurological system, and we do not have validated methods to remove them safely."

Environmental Groups Want More

However, a number of environmental groups said the actions taken by the federal government aren't sufficient. "Microplastics are a serious — and growing — threat to our health and our environment," Erin Doran of Food & Water Watch said in a statement. "Without monitoring of our drinking water, we can't know the full scale of this crisis. Today's announcement ... ultimately falls short on its own. It does not reflect the urgent need for a comprehensive nationwide monitoring program for microplastics in drinking water now."

Samantha Pickering, who leads the public and environmental public health program at the Michigan Environmental Council, said the EPA's acknowledgment of the problem is a good thing, but there's more that should be done now, like adding microplastics to the government's official list of contaminants in drinking water that must be monitored.

"I appreciate that the EPA is acknowledging that they're going to start watching it, but it needs to be shifted into a precautionary approach. I don't see why they wouldn't be able to start taking action," Pickering said.

Michigan's Stewardship of the Great Lakes

Pickering noted that some states, including California and Michigan, are ahead of the U.S. EPA in tackling the problem. "Having the Great Lakes ecosystem, and so much Great Lakes shoreline, we're a bit more responsible for our stewardship," she said.

Michigan will be conducting a pilot to test five different drinking water systems for the contaminants, and will also, for the next three years, test about 200 of its inland lakes and streams for microplastics. California has passed a law requiring the adoption of a system for testing drinking water supplies, as well as prohibiting plastic microbeads in personal care products.

"We really should be taking action to protect people's health," Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann Arbor, who frequently sponsors legislation related to plastic pollution, said. "But we expect so little from the Trump administration, even their acknowledgement that we're going to look at this and collect data is probably a good thing."

Microplastics Are Ubiquitous

More than 22 million pounds of plastic waste enter the Great Lakes each year, much of it in the form of microplastics — tiny plastic fragments of 5 millimeters or less (about the width of a pencil eraser). They are so ubiquitous in the environment that they have turned up in human breast milk, blood and brain tissue.

Microplastics come from litter that breaks down in the environment, fleece clothing that sheds fibers with every wash, car tires that grind away on road surfaces and many other sources. While research on humans is limited, animal studies have linked microplastics exposure to learning and memory issues, reproductive problems and a host of other concerns.

Pharmaceuticals, meanwhile, range from anti-anxiety drugs to antibiotics and pain relievers that enter water supplies through human waste, improper drug disposal and intensive livestock operations that routinely dose animals with antibiotics and other drugs. Pharmaceuticals have shown up at sampling sites across the Great Lakes and in the drinking water of tens of millions of U.S. residents.

In the environment, they can harm aquatic life and give rise to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Human health impacts from low-level drinking water pollution are not well understood.

"We're consuming this stuff, and we really don't know what the risk is," said Art Hirsch, co-founder of the Michigan Microplastics Coalition.

Legislative Efforts Continue

Regulatory efforts struggle for traction at both state and federal levels. Plastic use has been skyrocketing for decades, with the U.S. leading the world in per-capita consumption. Global plastic waste is expected to triple by 2060, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Active bills in the Michigan Legislature to phase out microbeads, require drinking water providers to monitor for microplastics and create a statewide microplastics plan are awaiting votes in the state Senate. Past efforts to let local governments ban plastic bags, expand recycling programs and ban cosmetics and over-the-counter drugs containing plastic microbeads have all stalled.

At the federal level, Congress passed 2015 legislation phasing out personal care products containing plastic microbeads and directed EPA in 2020 to develop a national strategy on plastic pollution. Several other efforts to rein in plastic use have stalled, while President Trump last year reversed a Biden-era effort to phase out federal use of single-use plastics.

The Proposal Opens for Public Comments

The proposal to designate microplastics and pharmaceuticals as priority contaminants is open for public comments through June 1. The EPA has stated it will follow the science and pursue answers, but environmental groups say the announcement doesn't go far enough in addressing the urgent need for monitoring and regulation of these ubiquitous pollutants.

"The problem is, we make too much," Hirsch said. "We're never going to get rid of plastics. They're too fundamental. To effectively curb microplastics pollution, governments need to start regulating the plastic supply chain."