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The Plastic Pollution Crisis: Combating Single-Use Plastics Through NEPA Challenges to the FDA’s Food Contact Substance Regulations
Summary
The FDA approves the chemicals used in plastic food packaging, but this paper argues the agency may be skipping required environmental safety reviews before giving these plastics the green light. The author lays out a legal strategy for advocates to sue the FDA and force stricter review of these chemicals, which matters because many plastic food contact materials can shed microplastics and harmful chemicals into what we eat and drink. This isn't a new health study, but a legal roadmap aimed at using existing environmental law to push for safer food packaging.
This Article will discuss the history and mechanics of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of plastic food contact substances, general obligations of federal agencies under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), application of NEPA to the FDA, and it will outline potential arguments within a hypothetical NEPA challenge to the FDA’s approval of particularly concerning chemical compounds. The aim of this Article is to provide advocates with a roadmap for preparing impact litigation against the FDA (and perhaps other federal agencies) to curb the growing plastic pollution crisis.