Plastic has become a ubiquitous part of modern life. So ubiquitous, in fact, we eat, breathe, and drink tiny particles of it, known as microplastics, every day. Scientists estimate we ingest a credit card’s worth of plastic each week.  And one of the major ways it enters our body is through our drinking water.

Increasingly, research suggests this is a concerning public health crisis — but what we know is likely just the tip of the iceberg. More information and data will help us understand the scope and scale of the threat and the need for strong protections. That’s why, in November, Food & Water Watch led 175 allies to petition the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to require microplastics monitoring in our public drinking water systems. 

Collecting more information about microplastics is key to addressing this emerging crisis. Given that microplastics are everywhere, we need all the information we can get to inform and help enact protective policies.

Microplastics are Everywhere — Even in Our Water and Our Bodies

With use, wear, tear, heat, and disposal, plastic degrades into or sheds microplastics. These plastic bits are less than 5 millimeters across. They can get even smaller, too — nanoplastics are 100 times smaller than the width of a human hair or more.

Because of their size, these tiny bits of plastic spread everywhere. For example, they can float into the air and we breathe them in. They transfer from cookware onto the food we eat. They shed from synthetic clothing in the wash, traveling down our drains and into our water supplies. 

Contaminated by a variety of sources, drinking water is now one of the major and most alarming ways that microplastics are getting into our bodies. In fact, people in the U.S. could be ingesting 4,000 microplastic particles or more through tap water each year. Based on one study’s calculations, we estimate that number could grow to 7,000 or even higher. 

Bottled water is not a solution. It’s actually even worse. Relying on bottled water for all our drinking water needs can increase the amount of microplastics we ingest by more than six times. Not only is most bottled water just tap water; the plastic bottles add to the water’s microplastic count.

Microplastics Pose Major Threats to Our Health

The health risks of ingesting microplastics stem from an incredible range of sources. For one, companies add thousands of chemicals to plastic, including hormone disruptors like phthalates, Bisphenol A (BPA), and flame retardants. 

Moreover, microplastics can also carry and accumulate toxic substances they come into contact with in the environment. These include pesticides, heavy metals, and PFAS forever chemicals. When we eat, breathe, and drink microplastics, we’re taking in all these toxics as well.

Once ingested, microplastics can then accumulate in our cells, tissues, and organs. This can lead to induced allergic responses and early cell death. Microplastics are also linked to cancers, liver damage, reproductive harm, and more. There is even evidence that nanoplastics are migrating into vital organs, including the brain.

These threats are not spread evenly. For example, since much of microplastic pollution ends up in the ocean, low-income, rural, and Indigenous communities that depend on fishing for food are especially vulnerable.

The evidence so far is stark and chilling, making a clear case for action. But to make matters worse, there could be so much we don’t yet know. There are so many different types of plastic and plastic additives that may pose different harms to different parts of the body; each combination could pose a unique danger. 

What we don’t know yet is about as scary as what we do. We are in urgent need of more information to understand the threat microplastics pose to our health when they come out of our taps.

EPA Must Start Monitoring Microplastics in Our Drinking Water

Until we can dedicate more regulatory effort and attention to this crisis, we will be left fighting in the dark. That’s why we’re leading a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency to start monitoring for microplastics in drinking water. 

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the agency must develop a monitoring program for emerging contaminants every five years. The data it collects informs its decisions on whether to limit these contaminants in our public drinking water systems under the SDWA. 

As the next five-year cycle approaches, we’re calling on the EPA to start monitoring for microplastics. This would involve testing for microplastics in public drinking water systems — an urgent step to pave the way for future regulation. Given the magnitude of the evidence so far, the EPA cannot wait any longer to start addressing this problem.

Collecting data on microplastics in our drinking water is key to understanding and addressing this emerging crisis. But we also need to stop the crisis from growing by tackling it at the root.

Plastics pose climate and health risks throughout their lifecycle, from the fracking that furnishes plastics’ main ingredients, to widespread microplastics pollution. Toxic fossil fuel extraction, plastic manufacturing, and trash and plastic incineration are especially harmful to nearby communities. To defend our health and our climate, we need to move off of fossil-fueled plastics altogether.

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