The Water & Health Advisory Council recently submitted formal comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding its Draft Sixth Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List (CCL 6).
The letter recognizes the important role the CCL plays in identifying contaminants for future research, monitoring and potential regulatory development. However, the Council encourages EPA to develop a shorter, more focused and transparent CCL process that prioritizes contaminants based on demonstrated occurrence in drinking water, meaningful potential for public health risk reduction, and the availability of reliable health effects and occurrence data.
The letter also highlights microplastics as an area where significant data gaps remain, including health-based definitions, validated analytical methods, occurrence characterization and interpretation of results. The Council recommends additional targeted research on exposure, treatment efficacy and analytical methods before broad national monitoring requirements are considered.
Read the Water & Health Advisory Council’s full comments to EPA.