Microplastics are turning up in our water, and right now the federal government does not systematically test drinking water for them. There is a chance to change that, and organizations across our network can add their names to the push. The window closes Friday, August 28.
Food & Water Watch is inviting organizations to sign on to its formal comments urging the EPA to monitor drinking water for microplastics. The deadline to add your group is Friday, August 28 at 12:00 PM ET.
What is being decided
Every five years, the EPA issues an Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, or UCMR. It sets up a nationwide program to test public drinking water for up to 30 contaminants that are not yet regulated, a critical first step toward understanding a threat and, eventually, regulating it. The agency is now developing its sixth version, UCMR 6. Food & Water Watch is pressing the EPA to put microplastics on that list.
The seven-governors rule
This is where it gets interesting. Food & Water Watch led a petition to the EPA in November 2024 to begin monitoring drinking water for microplastics. A year later, in November 2025, a coalition of seven state governors petitioned the agency to do the same. That number matters.
Food & Water Watch argues that the EPA has not met that legal burden, and so it is obligated to include microplastics on UCMR 6. Its comments make two core points: first, that the agency is legally required to act on the governors’ petition; and second, that failing to start monitoring now would unreasonably delay the entire regulatory process for a class of contaminants that does not belong in our water.
How your organization can sign on
- Review the full draft comments and the sign-on form, both linked below.
- Add your organization’s name through the form before noon ET on Friday, August 28.
- Questions? Contact Erin Doran at Food & Water Watch, edoran@fwwatch.org.
Monitoring is not the same as regulating, but it is the door everything else has to pass through. Getting microplastics onto UCMR 6 is how the country finally starts measuring what is already in our taps. If your group cares about clean water, this is a low-effort, high-value way to be counted.
Based on a sign-on invitation from Food & Water Watch regarding its comments to the EPA on the proposed Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 6). Sign-on deadline and contact as provided by Food & Water Watch.
