Plastic Health Research Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Plastic Health Research Act builds a federal research program for health effects from plastic exposure across production, occupational exposure, environmental exposure, product use, recycling, degradation, and waste disposal. HHS must coordinate with EPA, FDA, NOAA, NIST, and NIEHS to improve definitions, testing methods, reference materials, and research on microplastics and nanoplastics. The bill authorizes grants and contracts to public entities, nonprofits, universities, and consortia, requires annual public reports to Congress for four years, shares findings across federal science agencies, and creates NIEHS centers of excellence with five-year renewable grants. It authorizes $10,000,000 for each fiscal year from 2026 through 2030.
Who Benefits and How
Plastic health researchers benefit from a coordinated federal grant and contract stream for exposure methods, hazard testing, and health-effect studies. NIEHS centers of excellence benefit from five-year renewable funding to study plastic exposure and health effects. Communities exposed to plastic pollution benefit if research clarifies exposure routes, risks, and scientifically justified public awareness. Federal science agencies benefit from common definitions, reference materials, and validated test methods that make findings comparable.
Who Bears the Burden and How
HHS research coordinators must manage the interagency agenda, grants, contracts, reports, and public dissemination. EPA, FDA, NOAA, NIST, and NIEHS staff must coordinate data, methods, and research priorities. Grant recipients must produce rigorous methods, exposure assessments, and health-effect evidence rather than isolated studies. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of the $10,000,000 annual authorization and centers of excellence.
Key Provisions
- Creates an HHS-led research program on plastic exposure and health effects.
- Requires coordination with EPA, FDA, NOAA, NIST, and NIEHS on definitions, methods, and reference materials.
- Authorizes grants and contracts for public, nonprofit, academic, and consortium researchers.
- Establishes NIEHS centers of excellence with five-year renewable awards.
- Authorizes $10,000,000 per year for fiscal years 2026 through 2030.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates coordinated HHS-led plastic exposure health research, annual public reports, and NIEHS centers of excellence with $10,000,000 per year authorized through fiscal year 2030.
Key Policy Areas
Health Research, Environmental Health, Plastics
Primary Purpose
Creates coordinated HHS-led plastic exposure health research, annual public reports, and NIEHS centers of excellence with $10,000,000 per year authorized through fiscal year 2030.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Plastic health researchers
- NIEHS centers of excellence
- Communities exposed to plastic pollution
- Federal science agencies
Identified Costs
- HHS research coordinators
- EPA research staff
- Grant recipients
- Federal taxpayers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Stevens (for herself and Mr. Lucas) introduced the following …
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
NIEHS centers of excellence, Plastic health researchers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology