John,

Tiny plastic pellets called "nurdles" are now the second largest source of microplastic pollution in the ocean by weight.1

Making matters worse, nurdles can absorb toxic chemicals like DDT and mercury, turning them into tiny poison pills to be eaten by fish -- and even make their way up the food chain.2

How do nurdles end up in the water? Nurdles are small, so they are susceptible to spilling out into waterways and storm drains when they're being manufactured or transported. Plastic companies also dump or wash nurdles down the drain on purpose.3

As many as 10 trillion tiny plastic nurdles enter our oceans each year -- and yet there's often no penalty for the companies responsible.4

The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act would prohibit the dumping of plastic nurdles in our nation's waterways. Tell your U.S. senators to support the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act today and keep trillions of nurdles out of our environment.

Thank you,

Faye Park
President

1. Karen McVeigh "Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you've probably never heard of," The Guardian, November 29, 2021.
2. Lisa Frank and Kelly Leviker, "We're campaigning for Microplastic Free Waters," U.S. PIRG, April 16, 2024.
3. Neel Dhamesha, "The massive, unregulated source of plastic pollution you've probably never heard of," Vox, May 6, 2022.
4. Lisa Frank and Kelly Leviker, "We're campaigning for Microplastic Free Waters," U.S. PIRG, April 16, 2024.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: U.S. PIRG <[email protected]>
Date: Thursday, June 20, 2024
Subject: Add your name: Tiny plastic pellets shouldn't be dumped into our waterways by the trillions
To: John xxxxxx <[email protected]>

John,

These tiny plastic pellets are a big problem.

Small bits of plastic called "nurdles" are the building block of practically every plastic product, and they're being dumped in our waterways by the trillions, often without any penalties for the polluter.1

Nurdles are now the second largest source of microplastic pollution in the ocean.2

The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act would prohibit the dumping of plastic nurdles into our nation's waterways. Tell your U.S. senators to support the Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act today.

Plastic nurdles are manufactured from gas or oil, shipped to factories, and then melted and poured into molds to make just about every plastic product in existence, from plastic bags to plastic bottles. You might even be reading this on a device made from nurdles.3

Nurdles often accidentally spill during transport -- and once in our environment, they find their way into our rivers, lakes and oceans.4

But they're so small and cheap that they're also being dumped or washed down the drain on purpose by plastics companies, often with no penalty.5

Scientists have found plastic in hundreds of species, including fish and shellfish that could end up on our dinner plates.6

If we eat an animal that has ingested nurdles, the plastic and toxic chemicals from that animal could end up in our system, too. Microplastic particles have already been found in our blood and lungs.7

We need to stop the harmful practice of dumping nurdles into waterways. Send a message to your U.S. senators today.

Nurdles are cheap to make, and plastic production is increasing. But this desire for convenient plastic products means that nurdle pollution is growing too.

PIRG is working to stop trillions of nurdles from entering our waterways every year. The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act would explicitly prohibit the discharge of plastic pellets into our waters, keeping trillions of nurdles out of the environment every year.8

Add your name today, and help safeguard our water against microplastic pollution.

Thank you,

Faye Park
President

1. Neel Dhamesha, "The massive, unregulated source of plastic pollution you've probably never heard of," Vox, May 6, 2022.
2. Karen McVeigh "Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you've probably never heard of," The Guardian, November 29, 2021.
3. Neel Dhamesha, "The massive, unregulated source of plastic pollution you've probably never heard of," Vox, May 6, 2022.
4. Neel Dhamesha, "The massive, unregulated source of plastic pollution you've probably never heard of," Vox, May 6, 2022.
5. Neel Dhamesha, "The massive, unregulated source of plastic pollution you've probably never heard of," Vox, May 6, 2022.
6. Laura Parker, "The world's plastic pollution crisis, explained," National Geographic, February 21, 2024.
7. Shannon Osaka, "With microplastics, scientists are in a race against time," The Washington Post, March 11, 2024.
8. Lisa Frank, "New bill would stop companies from dumping plastic," U.S. PIRG, May 25, 2022.

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