Read each document within its authority and scope
The regulatory-method library contains legal instruments, official laboratory methods, policy material, technical reports and scientific assessments. They answer different questions. A legal restriction on an intentional ingredient, a procedure for counting particles in drinking water, and a laboratory finding in food are not interchangeable.
| Source | What it establishes | What is not inferred |
|---|---|---|
| EU synthetic polymer microparticle restriction1 | Defined substance/mixture restriction, with exclusions, derogations and transitions | A blanket ban on plastic articles or every particle shed from them |
| EU drinking-water decision2 | A methodology combining collection, morphology and polymer identification | A health-based particle ceiling or universal food/product release test |
| California IR and Raman procedures34 | Treated-water analytical methods with stated size coverage and quality controls | Automatic validation for food, air, dust or tissue |
| Supplied California handbook5 | Monitoring-policy context in the supplied pre-adoption version | A verified present-day implementation timetable |
| JRC technical reports67 | Analytical evaluation and practical method guidance | A separate legal concentration limit |
| EFSA statement and California research framework89 | Dated scientific assessment and monitoring-framework evidence | A product-specific safe particle count or clinical diagnostic threshold |
Versions and current-source checks
The California handbook supplied in the library carries an August 9, 2022 cover date. The current agency microplastics index, checked on the page update date, separately lists adoption under Resolution 2022-0032 and the revised laboratory methods. The library identifies the supplied version rather than treating proposed dates as verified implementation. The methods themselves are the supplied revised versions.534
The EU decision adopts its methodology in Article 1 and addresses Member States in Article 2. A particular water product must be considered within the scope of the parent drinking-water directive; this page does not assume that every bottled-water study is a public-water compliance test.2
Food-contact and scientific context
FDA describes a food-contact authorization framework using intended use, migration and toxicological evidence, alongside important analytical gaps for microplastics.10 The supplied EFSA food/seafood statement is a dated scientific assessment. Its historical description of legislation is not repeated as a claim about all current laws.8
Monitoring is distinct from a safe level
The California research framework could develop a conservative monitoring-screening approach, but could not extrapolate an established human-health threshold. A screening calculation is not an observed product concentration or a clinical cutoff.9
This is a bounded source guide, not a worldwide legal register. The category pages apply only the context their cited documents support.
References
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2055: restriction on synthetic polymer microparticlesLegal instrument
- Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2024/1441: methodology to measure microplastics in water intended for human consumptionLegal instrument
- SWB-MP1-rev1: Infrared spectroscopy of microplastic particles in drinking waterOfficial method
- SWB-MP2-rev1: Raman spectroscopy of microplastic particles in drinking waterOfficial method
- California microplastics drinking-water policy handbook, supplied August 9 versionPolicy document
- Analytical methods to measure microplastics in drinking water: Review and evaluation of methodsTechnical report
- Analysing microplastics in drinking water: Practical considerationsTechnical report
- Presence of microplastics and nanoplastics in food, with particular focus on seafoodScientific statement
- Development and application of a health-based framework for informing regulatory action in relation to exposure of microplastic particles in California drinking waterResearch framework
- Microplastics and Nanoplastics in FoodsAgency information