Microplastics in Your Body? The US Has a $144 Million Plan

Though small, measuring no more than five millimeters, microplastics are becoming hard to ignore. New research seems to emerge nearly daily, highlighting the many ways these microscopic plastic pieces may be harming our health as they make their way into the human body through the foods we eat, including fish and vegetables, and the beverages we drink, including through glass-bottled water. And now, it seems, the U.S. federal government is taking note — and putting real money behind potential solutions.

In early April, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a $144 million program, STOMP (Systematic Targeting Of MicroPlastics), through its Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The goal, as explained in the announcement, is to build a “toolbox” for measuring, researching, and ultimately removing microplastics and nanoplastics from the human body.

“Microplastics are in every organ we look at — in ourselves and in our children. But we don’t know which ones are harmful or how to remove them,” ARPA-H director Alicia Jackson, Ph.D., shared in a statement. “The field is working in the dark. STOMP is turning on the lights.”