The Trump administration has pledged to address research gaps on health effects and prevalence of microplastics, an issue officials have pushed as critical to Make America Healthy Again goals.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the Health and Human Services Department will put $144 million into a new program centered on measuring microplastics in humans, understanding health effects and, ultimately, exploring how to get the tiny particles out of the body.
“We’re not going to speculate — we’re going to measure,” Kennedy said.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin also announced plans to add microplastics, as well as certain pharmaceuticals and additional “forever chemicals,” to its list of potential contaminants in drinking water. Officials described it as a first step toward more research and funding for those those substances, although it’s no guarantee that they will be regulated.
