{"id":22750,"date":"2025-07-29T10:46:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=22750"},"modified":"2025-07-29T10:48:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:48:27","slug":"merkley-pushes-to-protect-soil-water-sources-used-in-farming-from-microplastics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/merkley-pushes-to-protect-soil-water-sources-used-in-farming-from-microplastics\/","title":{"rendered":"Merkley Pushes to Protect Soil, Water Sources Used in Farming from Microplastics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C. \u2013 To close out his push throughout July to tackle the plastic pollution crisis, Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today reintroduced his Research for Healthy Soils Act<\/em>. This legislation would unlock federal funding at the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Agricultural Research Service to conduct research on microplastics in biosolids and help us better understand their potential impacts on soil health, crops, public health, and the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cAs microplastics leave their mark on seemingly every aspect of our lives and become more concentrated in our soil and water sources, it\u2019s important that we invest in research to better understand just how many harmful chemicals are found in biosolids,\u201d dijo el senador Merkley.<\/strong> \u201cWe know the widespread negative impacts of microplastics and the ways that they harm the human body. Knowing the impacts on soil health, crops, and public health is vital not only for feeding the country, but also for ensuring that our farming practices are sustainable in our fight against climate chaos.\u201d  <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Biosolids are a valuable byproduct of the wastewater treatment process that can be applied as fertilizer to agricultural land, adding nutrients to the soil and improving soil structure. However, research on the presence and impacts of microplastics in biosolids on farmland remains limited. The Research for Healthy Soils Act<\/em> is necessary to further our understanding of the effects of microplastics on biosolids and the overall health and safety of farming practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining Merkley in support of the Research for Healthy Soils Act<\/em> are U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bipartisan companion legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) and Young Kim (CA-40).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merkley is a long-time leader in the fight to address plastic pollution. As former Chair of the\u00a0Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Subcommittee on Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight, he\u00a0held a first-of-its-kind series of hearings<\/a>\u00a0investigating plastic production and pollution. His hearings examined:\u00a0Da\u00f1os ambientales y clim\u00e1ticos causados por los pl\u00e1sticos.<\/a>,\u00a0Impactos de los pl\u00e1sticos en las comunidades de justicia ambiental.<\/a>,\u00a0sistemas de reutilizaci\u00f3n y recarga<\/a>,\u00a0residuos de envases de bebidas<\/a>, y\u00a0Desaf\u00edos del consumidor para el reciclaje.<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During July, Merkley led the charge to spotlight the harms of plastic pollution on our air, water, and soil. He introduced a Congressional resolution to designate July as\u00a0Mes de acci\u00f3n contra la contaminaci\u00f3n pl\u00e1stica<\/a>, the bipartisan\u00a0Microplastics Safety Act<\/em><\/a>\u00a0to better understand the threat of microplastics to human health, and the bicameral Fighting Fibers Act<\/em><\/a> to tackle microfiber pollution from our laundry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Texto completo de la\u00a0Research for Healthy Soils Act <\/em>can be found by clicking\u00a0aqu\u00ed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

###<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington, D.C. \u2013 To close out his push throughout July to tackle the plastic pollution crisis, Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today reintroduced his Research for Healthy Soils Act. This legislation would unlock federal funding at the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Agricultural Research Service to conduct research on microplastics in biosolids and help us better understand their potential impacts on soil health, crops, public […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":17054,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[42,43,133],"class_list":["post-22750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-agriculture","tag-bipartisan-actions","tag-plastic"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMerkley Pushes to Protect Soil, Water Sources Used in Farming from Microplastics - Merkley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/merkley-pushes-to-protect-soil-water-sources-used-in-farming-from-microplastics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Merkley Pushes to Protect Soil, Water Sources Used in Farming from Microplastics - Merkley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Washington, D.C. \u2013 To close out his push throughout July to tackle the plastic pollution crisis, Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley today reintroduced his Research for Healthy Soils Act. 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