A quartet of bipartisan members of Congress has proposed a bill that would help to research the primary causes of a major form of pollution that is becoming a growing concern.
According to the Oregon Capital Chronicle, Oregon Representative Janelle Bynum and Senator Jeff Merkley (Democrat) and Florida Representative Greg Steube and Senator Rick Scott (Republican) introduced the Microplastics Safety Act.
The bill would require Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to study and identify the major causes of microplastic exposure and study the impact that exposure to microplastics can have on everything from children's health to cancer, reproductive health, and chronic illness.
Kennedy is then expected to report on those findings to Congress within a year.
"The Microplastics Safety Act is a critical step toward understanding the full scope of these risks," Scott said. "As exposure continues to grow through food, water, air, and everyday products, this legislation will help ensure we're guided by sound science to protect public health and our next generation."
Microplastics have very quickly become an endemic problem around the globe. Microplastics are the byproduct of plastic, which doesn't biodegrade, but instead breaks down into progressively smaller and smaller pieces as it ages, while leaching toxic chemicals into the soil. They have spread like wildfire throughout the environment, traveling via bodies of water to parts of the world thought to be safe from their influence.
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While we still don't know much about their impact on our health, initial findings haven't been promising. They've been linked to respiratory problems, liver fibrosis, and could be linked to fertility issues.
The members of Congress proposing this bill hope further research can spur smarter, more effective legislation to keep people safe, and that its bipartisan, bicameral support will increase the chances of it passing.
"Ultimately, I think it is important for us to ask the question about what microplastics are doing to our bodies and to our environment, and we should continue pushing on that, whoever's in charge of the administration," Bynum said.
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