DELAWARE- Delaware Governor Matt Meyer has joined a multistate petition urging the Environmental Protection Agency to add microplastics to the next Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule under the Safe Drinking Water Act, a move advocates say would mark a significant step toward future regulation.
The EPA had anticipated releasing the proposed monitoring rule last month, with a final rule planned for December 2026, but the agency has not yet issued the proposal.
The petition follows nearly a year of advocacy from Food & Water Watch. The group said its members met with the staff of governors and sent more than 8,000 messages in support of nationwide monitoring. Last year, the organization filed a legal petition signed by 175 groups across the country, calling for the monitoring of microplastics under the federal drinking water law.
Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA must add a contaminant to the monitoring list when seven governors petition the agency, unless doing so would interfere with monitoring a contaminant of greater public health concern.
“This is a momentous step towards gathering critical information we need about the emerging crisis of microplastics in drinking water,” said Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch. “We thank Governor Murphy for his leadership on this petition and Governor Meyer and all the governors that have joined him in this vital effort. We now call on the EPA to grant this petition and get to work. People have a right to know about microplastic contamination in their drinking water.”
Researchers have linked exposure to microplastics to an increased risk of certain cancers, yet the particles remain unregulated and unmonitored at the federal level.
“It’s critically important that we persist in our collective efforts to insist that elected officials stand up and speak out for public health and, in this case, to protect us from dangers from microplastics,” said Paula Rogovin, Co-Chair of the Food & Water North Jersey Volunteer Team. “We applaud Governor Murphy for listening to our call and leading on getting support from other governors.”
The petition was led by New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont also signed.