Déjà Vu in Drinking Water: Microplastics Regulation Follows the PFAS Playbook
[Artwork: Mandy Barker: Oceans. From Renoir to Microplastics. Museu Diocesa de Barcelona] I've spent a lot of the past few years writing about per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Lately, I've noticed how familiar the microplastics story is; it’s like watching the same movie with different actors. f you want a preview of where microplastics regulation is headed, PFAS is basically the trailer. Microplastics just made the federal watchlist for the first time On April 6, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a draft of the Sixth Contaminant Candidate List (CCL6). For the first time in the list's 30-year history, microplastics showed up as a priority contaminant group alongside PFAS, pharmaceuticals, and disinfection byproducts. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced it jointly with HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which tells you this wasn't a quiet technical update - it was a coordinated federal signal. Public comment closed in June, ...