If you’ve been following the news lately, you’ve probably seen headlines about microplastics — tiny plastic fragments and fibers showing up in the human body. It’s a topic that understandably raises questions, and as the CEO of the Suffolk County Water Authority, which serves more than 1.2 million people on Long Island, I’m focused on addressing this issue proactively and making sure our customers know where things stand.
Microplastics are everywhere in the modern environment. They’ve been found in oceans, in rain, in the food we eat and in some water supplies. The health effects are not yet fully understood, and the science is still developing.
There are currently no federal regulatory limits for microplastics in drinking water. But the concern is real enough that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering requiring public water systems to test for them under the upcoming Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule — a program the EPA uses every five years to study emerging threats before setting any standards. That’s a significant signal that the federal government is taking this seriously, and so are we.
SCWA didn’t wait to be told to act. At the end of 2025, we completed one of the first voluntary microplastics assessments of a groundwater-based public water system in the United States. We tested source water, treatment effluents and finished drinking water across a wide range of wells and treatment locations — including some of our shallowest wells, which would be the most vulnerable to surface contamination.
The results were reassuring. The vast majority of samples showed no detectable microplastics. Where particles were found, levels were extremely low: typically, just one to five particles per sample, with no pattern suggesting widespread presence in the aquifer or any introduction through our treatment process. Our average was just 3.6 particles per liter. To put that in perspective, a peer-reviewed study found an average of 325 plastic particles per liter in bottled water. Long Island tap water, drawn from a protected underground aquifer, performed dramatically better.
We also applied strict quality-control procedures throughout the testing to confirm that our sampling and analysis process itself wasn’t introducing contamination. Those controls showed zero or near-zero particle counts, validating the accuracy of our findings. Sixty percent of our analyzed samples showed equal or fewer microplastics per liter than the blanks themselves.
We didn’t do this study because a regulation required it. We did it because our customers deserve clear and accurate information about their drinking water, and because staying ahead of emerging issues is what responsible water management looks like. Waiting for mandates is the easy path. Understanding the science before you’re told to is how you actually protect people.
We’re not alone in that commitment. The Long Island Commission for Aquifer Protection has partnered with the United States Geological Survey to study microplastics in the aquifer and examine how they might enter our groundwater system, including through stormwater recharge basins. That kind of regional, scientific collaboration is exactly what this issue calls for.
And that brings me to a broader point. Microplastics are not solely a drinking water problem. Just as we’ve seen with PFAS — so-called “forever chemicals” — and other contaminants in recent years, drinking water is one of several possible exposure pathways — not the only one. Food packaging, synthetic textiles, household dust and consumer products are all sources. A serious, evidence-based response to microplastics must account for all these vectors, not single out one source while ignoring the others.
SCWA will continue to monitor the science, follow developments in regulatory guidance, and evaluate whether additional or expanded testing is appropriate as analytical methods improve. What I can tell you today is this: The water coming from your tap has been tested, the levels of microplastics found are extremely low, and we are not waiting for a crisis to take the issue seriously.
Jeff Szabo is chief executive officer of the Suffolk County Water Authority.
