Microplastics, a growing concern in oceans and other aquatic habitats, are increasingly making their way into drinking water sources. Photo: NOAA
Microplastics and pharmaceuticals are part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s new draft list of substances in public drinking water that require scientific scrutiny.
This is a first for the EPA, which last week announced with U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that two of the four contaminant groups and dozens of chemicals included in the Sixth Draft Contaminant Candidate List are microplastics and pharmaceuticals.
The April 2 announcement began a 60-day public comment period.
The Trump administration hailed the additions to the list, also known as CCL 6, as “a series of groundbreaking actions to protect the nation’s drinking water.”
“For too long, Americans have expressed concern about plastics and pharmaceuticals in their drinking water, and that ends today,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a release. “By placing microplastics and pharmaceuticals on the Contaminant Candidate List for the first time ever, EPA is sending a clear message. We will follow the science, pursue answers, and uphold the highest standards to protect the health of all American families.”
The announcement comes as the Trump administration is aggressively moving to roll back several per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) drinking water standards enacted under the previous administration.
PFAS have rejoined the CCL, along with disinfection byproducts. The CCL singles out contaminants that are known or expected to be present in public drinking water systems, but are not regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act and may be subject to future regulatory action.
Also back on the list is the industrial solvent 1,4-dioxane. It, along with PFAS, is known to be in the drinking water sources of tens of thousands of North Carolinians, perhaps most notably in the Cape Fear region.
Last year, the EPA announced that it would maintain the current National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for PFOA and PFOS but rescind and reconsider its regulatory decisions for other PFAS, including GenX.
GenX is unique to Chemours’ Fayetteville plant facility, which is located near the banks of the Cape Fear River, more than 110 miles upriver from Wilmington. The Cape Fear River is a source of raw drinking water for hundreds of thousands of North Carolina residents.
The federal agency also said it would extend deadlines for public water treatment facilities to comply with federally set limits on PFAS.
Since the late 1990s, the EPA has been required by law to publish a list of unregulated or unregulated pollutants every five years.
CCL is considered the first step in the process of better understanding potential human health risks from contaminants in drinking water through scientific research.
And while clean drinking water advocates say this is a good first step, they are urging the public to seek regulations to limit or completely stop the levels of pollutants entering public drinking water sources.
“I think it’s important to be aware of what chemicals are in our drinking water and study the risks associated with them,” said Hannah Nelson, a staff attorney in the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Chapel Hill office. “But just adding chemicals to this list won’t protect our communities. Chemicals are on the list because we know they’re in our drinking water. So we need to take the next step to manage that contamination at the source and prevent it from drinking. We need to get them out of the water. I, North Carolina, know that these contaminants are already there, so I think we should really focus on how to keep them out in the first place, because that’s how we really protect our communities.”
Cape Fear region residents, the local governments they represent, public water utilities, and environmental organizations are embroiled in an ongoing fight for state regulations that would hold emitters of PFAS and 1,4-dioxane responsible for reducing the amount of chemicals released into drinking water sources.
On Tuesday, the North Carolina Environmental Control Commission will hold the first of a series of public hearings on the proposed PFAS and 1,4-dioxane monitoring and minimization rules.
Three public hearings will focus on proposed rules regarding discharges of PFOS, PFOA, and GenX to surface waters in North Carolina, and three public hearings will focus on proposed rules to monitor and minimize 1,4-dioxane in wastewater discharged to surface waters from certain facilities.
This graphic from Cape Fear River Watch shows a sample of public works and other projects along the Cape Fear River.
The proposed rule package does not set specific discharge limits or penalties for discharge violations, creating an impasse for those who argue that the rule would actually do little to minimize the amount of these pollutants in drinking water sources.
“I know that our environmental rule-making bodies are currently trying to pass regulations regarding PFAS and 1,4-dioxane, which do not control chemicals at the source,” Nelson said. “Having drinking water standards may help, but what we really need to focus on is how can we get rid of these standards in the first place, and how can we encourage state and federal leaders to protect people from contamination before it gets to the point where it comes out of the sink and into your glass?”
Beyond Plastics, a Bennington College-based group working to end single-use plastic pollution, called for similar regulations for microplastics.
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken an important first step in regulating microplastics in drinking water,” Beyond Plastics President and former EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said in a release. “I applaud EPA’s decision and urge the agency to move quickly to not only regulate microplastics in drinking water, but also to prevent them from entering our water supplies.”
Rob Clark, water quality program manager at Cape Fear River Watch, agreed, saying microplastics are ubiquitous and are present in our environment and in our bodies.
“It’s a situation where we already have a lot of information on this,” he said. “What we need is ubiquitous monitoring across the country, and we need regulation. The sooner we set maximum contaminant levels for microplastics, the sooner we will eliminate them from our drinking water.”
The EPA said in an April 2 release that although the Human Health Benchmark for Drugs is not regulatory or enforceable, it is “an important resource that enables local decision makers to assess risk and protect their communities when drug contamination is detected at levels of concern.”
The public comment period on Draft CCL 6 ends on June 5th.
EPA plans to sign the final list by November 17th.
“I think public comment periods on actions like this are very important because it’s a good opportunity for people to voice their concerns about chemicals that are known to be in drinking water,” Nelson said. “Adding chemicals to the list is just an acknowledgment that they are present in the water. I don’t think this list should be read as a commitment to advocate for people beyond that. What we need to see is strong action, whether by federal or state agencies, to eliminate these chemicals.”
