The Government Is Finally Studying Microplastics
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The Plastic Problem Nobody Could Measure
Two days ago, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched STOMP (Systematic Targeting Of MicroPlastics), a $144 million research program through ARPA-H to do something the federal government has never seriously attempted: measure and remove microplastics from the human body.
This matters because you cannot regulate what you cannot quantify. And until now, nobody had the tools to accurately measure how much plastic is lodged in your organs.
Now they're building them.
What's Actually in Your Body
The research that led to STOMP is staggering:
Blood: A 2022 study found microplastics in 77% of human blood samples tested. Polyethylene (the stuff in plastic bags) was the most common polymer detected. (Environment International)
Brain: A 2025 Nature Medicine study found brain microplastic concentrations increased roughly 50% between 2016 and 2024. The equivalent of about five bottle caps of plastic per brain. Brains of dementia patients had drastically higher levels. (Nature Medicine)
Placenta: Researchers at the University of New Mexico found microplastics in 100% of placentas tested, with concentrations up to 790 µg per gram of tissue. Preterm birth placentas showed significantly higher levels. (ScienceDaily)
Heart: A 2023 study confirmed microplastics in cardiac tissue from surgery patients, including heart valves and arterial plaques. (PubMed)
ARPA-H Director Alicia Jackson put it plainly: "Microplastics are in every organ we look at. STOMP is turning on the lights."
Where It Comes From (Spoiler: Your Kitchen)
Food packaging is a major vector. Plastic containers, cling wrap, takeout boxes, styrofoam, and even the lining inside cans all shed micro- and nanoplastics into food, especially when heated. Bottled water is another culprit; studies have found hundreds of thousands of nanoplastic particles per liter.
The FDA has never required testing for microplastic migration from food packaging. That's part of what Kennedy has promised to change, calling for a "revolution" in how the FDA oversees food contact materials and the GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) process that lets manufacturers self-certify their own packaging safety.
What STOMP Actually Does
The program has two phases:
Phase 1 (first 24 months): Build accurate lab methods to detect nano-sized plastics in biological tissue. The CDC will validate these methods across labs for consistency.
Phase 2: Translate those tools into clinical tests (think: a blood test for your plastic burden) and develop pharmaceutical or bioremediation approaches to actually remove microplastics from the body.
The focus on pregnant women and children as priority populations is notable. If microplastic exposure is linked to preterm birth, as the placenta data suggests, this stops being an environmental talking point and becomes a public health emergency.
States Aren't Waiting
While the federal government builds measurement tools, 11 states have already banned PFAS ("forever chemicals") in food packaging. Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, and California all enacted bans starting in 2025. The EU will enforce PFAS limits in food packaging by August 2026.
California's Safer Food Packaging Act of 2025 goes further, targeting bisphenols (like BPA) and phthalates in all food packaging.
The SOS Take
The MAHA movement has earned plenty of skepticism from this newsletter. But credit where it's due: STOMP is the first federal program to treat microplastics in the human body as a medical problem, not just an environmental one. Spending $144 million to build the measurement tools is the right first step. You fix what you can measure.
The concern? Measurement without regulation is just expensive science. If STOMP generates damning data and the FDA still lets manufacturers self-certify packaging safety through GRAS loopholes, this was a press release, not a policy.
What You Can Do Now
Swap plastic containers for glass or stainless steel, especially for hot food
Never microwave food in plastic (yes, even "microwave-safe" plastic)
Use a reverse osmosis or carbon block water filter
Choose canned goods with BPA-free linings (or go with glass jars)
Minimize bottled water; use filtered tap instead
Bottom Line
Microplastics have been found in human blood, brains, placentas, and hearts, with concentrations rising year over year.
STOMP is a $144M federal program to measure and eventually remove microplastics from the human body.
Food packaging is a primary exposure route, and the FDA has never required testing for it.
11 states have banned PFAS in food packaging. The feds are still catching up.
This is a genuine accountability win for RFK and the MAHA agenda. Now the hard part: turning data into regulation.
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