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Past, present, and possible future policies on plastic use in the United States, particularly microplastics and nanoplastics: A review
Summary
This review analyzed existing U.S. federal and state laws that could be used to regulate microplastics and nanoplastics, including the Clean Water Act and Toxic Substances Control Act. The study found that while multiple statutes exist that could address plastic pollution, none have been specifically invoked for micro- and nanoplastic waste, and current FDA thresholds for acceptable plastic ingestion are far below estimated actual daily exposure levels.
As the levels of plastic use in global society have increased, it has become crucial to regulate plastics of all sizes including both microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs). Here, the published literature on the current laws passed by the US Congress and regulations developed by various federal agencies such as the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that could be used to regulate MPs and NPs have been reviewed and analyzed. Statutes such as the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Clean Air Act can all be used to address plastic pollution. These statutes have not been invoked for MP and NP waste in water or air. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act provides guidance on how the FDA should evaluate plastics use in food, food packaging, cosmetics, drug packaging, and medical devices. The FDA has recommended that acceptable levels of ingestible contaminant from recycled plastic are less than 1.5 µg/person/day, which is 476 000 times less than the possible ingested daily dose. Plastic regulation is present at the state level. States have banned plastic bags, and several cities have banned plastic straws. California is the only state beginning to focus on monitoring MPs in drinking water. The future of MP regulation in the USA should use TSCA to test the safety of plastics. The other statutes need to include MPs in their definitions. For the FDA, MPs should be redefined as contaminants-allowing tolerances to be set for MPs in food and beverages. Through minor changes in how MPs are classified, it is possible to begin to use the current statutes to understand and begin to minimize the possible effects of MPs on human health and the environment. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;19:474-488. © 2022 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).
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