New STOMP program will focus on measuring, understanding, and eliminating plastic particles found in people.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday that the federal government will invest $144 million in a new initiative to study microplastics and develop methods to remove them from the human body.
The program, known as Systematic Targeting Of MicroPlastics (STOMP), will be led by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a division within the Department of Health and Human Services. Officials said the effort will focus on measuring the presence of microplastics and nanoplastics in humans, understanding how they affect the body, and identifying ways to eliminate them.
Tests have found microplastics—tiny plastic particles—in many individuals, with research linking them to potential health concerns. Exposure can occur through food, water, and air.
“We are not dealing with a distant or theoretical risk,” Kennedy said during a news conference. “We are dealing with a measurable and growing presence inside the human body.”
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Kennedy emphasized that foundational research remains incomplete. “We cannot treat what we cannot measure,” he said. “We cannot regulate what we don’t understand.”
According to officials, the program will proceed in phases. The first phase will involve clinical testing to quantify microplastics present in the human body and establish baseline measurements. The second phase will examine how these particles accumulate in organs, cross cellular barriers, and disrupt biological processes, while also working to develop targeted removal methods.
Alicia Jackson, director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, said the initiative is designed to accelerate progress in an area that has lacked standardized data.
“STOMP will do in five years what the entire field has been unable to do for decades,” Jackson said. “We will create a definitive shared scientific foundation, gold-standard measurement, mechanistic understanding, and ultimately, targeted removal.”
Separately, the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to designate microplastics and pharmaceuticals as priority contaminant groups under federal review. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the designation will allow further investigation into plastic contamination in drinking water following a public comment period.
“For too long, Americans have been ignored as they sound the alarm of plastics in their drinking water,” Zeldin said. “This ends today.”
The proposed contaminant list, required under the Safe Drinking Water Act, also includes per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and disinfection byproducts for further evaluation.
Officials said the initiative is part of a broader federal effort to address environmental and public health concerns related to chemical exposure.