In July of 2025, the Microplastics Safety Act was introduced to Congress to further understand how microplastics are getting into everyday items and the effect they have on public health. Now awaiting ratification, this bipartisan bill will require the Food and Drug Administration to research the impacts of microplastic ingestion.
Oregon Rep. Janelle Bynum, who introduced the bill, says now is the time to act. “We can’t take a wait-and-see approach here — it’s time to be proactive,” she said in a statement to the Post. “I don’t want to be looking back 20 years from now with cancer rates skyrocketing, wishing we’d done something sooner.”
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, who introduced the bill to the senate, also feels the urgency of the issue, stating, “Plastic is everywhere and cannot biodegrade — instead, it breaks down into microplastics, which have been found in rainwater, on the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, in farmland soil that produces our food, and in the very air we breathe.”
Although the science is still developing, recent studies have shown an increase in microplastic concentration within the human body. According to a study published in Nature Medicine, that amount has increased by 50% in the last decade. The average human brain now contains enough microplastics to equate the weight of a plastic spoon.
Additionally, Bynum and Merkley drew from the research findings of a 2024 Portland State University (PSU) study to support their case for the bill. “We sought to understand whether microplastics were being incorporated in the edible tissue of commercially, culturally, and ecologically important fish species caught off of the Oregon coast,” says Dr. Elise Granek, a professor of environmental science and management at PSU, who led the project.
Her team also wondered whether fish collected directly after capture contained fewer anthropogenic particles — materials processed or manufactured by humans — than those purchased at a store. The sample collection and processing of six different retail-purchased and vessel-retrieved species — including Pacific herring and Chinook salmon — revealed that only two out of the 182 samples had no detected anthropogenic particles in their tissue. The levels in freshly caught compared to store-bought organisms varied across species.
Amy Larson, an instructor of environmental sciences at PSU, explains how these plastics end up in the internal systems of marine organisms. “It’s not necessarily the big chunky bits, like a soda bottle. [It’s] a lot of the small stuff that’s much more likely to be found … physically impacting most animals and people out there.” She adds that microplastics are often mistaken for food and ingested by marine organisms, or caught in gills and other breathing structures. “It’s pollution — trash in their living room,” she says.
Buying, washing, and wearing clothing made of natural materials rather than synthetic fibers helps limit the amount of microplastics entering waterways. “Most of the plastics that people find in the oceans are microfibers, and most of those are probably coming from your washing machines,” says Larson. She recommends the usage of water filters on washing machines and dryers, as well as air filters in enclosed living spaces to limit individual microplastic intake.
Regarding the prospects of the Microplastics Safety Act, Bynum says she’s “proud” that it has bipartisan support in Congress. “I testified in the Energy and Commerce Committee in support of the bill, and I’ll keep working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to build support,” she states. Merkley adds, “I will continue to lead the way in addressing the challenges of climate chaos and environmental pollution.”
If ratified, this bill will lead to a further understanding of microplastics’ impact on human health, focusing on the consequences to children’s health, reproductive health, the endocrine system, chronic illnesses, and cancer. Granek says this is a step in the right direction. “At this point we have ample scientific evidence that the chemicals associated with microplastics affect human health. A synthetic report on that risk would be helpful for designing future legislation to address human exposure to microplastics.”
