{"id":385142,"date":"2026-07-24T14:41:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T14:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/385142\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T14:41:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T14:41:14","slug":"researchers-tested-more-than-75-texas-waterways-for-microplastics-nearly-all-had-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/385142\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers tested more than 75 Texas waterways for microplastics. Nearly all had them"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new study<\/a> by Dallas-based researchers finds that nearly all of the region\u2019s waterways are polluted with microplastics.<\/p>\n

The report from the Environment Texas Research and Policy Center calls on policymakers to take action to regulate the waste that ends up in the state\u2019s water.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur report today found that microplastics have become a nearly invisible constant in our Texas waterways,\u201d Environment Texas city hall advocate Ian Seamans said during a news conference Thursday. \u201cThat means that whether you fish on the Gulf Coast, swim in the Hill Country or paddle, for instance, White Rock Lake right here in Dallas, chances are that microplastics are there too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Microplastics, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a>, are small pieces of plastic less than 5 millimeters long that come from sources such as larger debris that degrades down, or microbeads found in certain health beauty products like body wash.<\/p>\n

Seamans said researchers and local volunteers sampled water from 77 North Texas waterways, including the Trinity River, White Rock Lake and Mountain Creek Lake.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe overwhelming majority of sites contained plastic fibers,\u201d Seamans said. \u201cWe also found plastic pellets, the raw material used to make plastic products at multiple locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report says microplastics can be a threat to the health of wildlife and humans.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Microplastic debris can pose a threat to humans and wildlife.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a serious physical hazard,\u201d read the report. \u201cThese plastics can cause suffocation and gut blockage, and animals that ingest too much plastic can starve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seamans called on Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to enact stronger regulations on items like plastic pellets \u2013 manufactured beads that are melted down and used to mold everyday plastics \u2013 which Seamans says is \u201cone of the most preventable sources of microplastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTCEQ should move now to require zero pellet discharge into Texas waterways,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said Environment Texas has already gathered together more than 100 doctors, fishers and anglers from across the state as well as representatives of the tourism industry on the Gulf Coast to ask the governor to take action.<\/p>\n

Former North Texas state Rep. Jason Villalba joined Seamans during the conference and said legislation to better regulate microplastics has been introduced in the last few sessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fishing and tourist industry is dramatically impacted by these microplastics, and unless we do something about that as a state as we go into the next legislative session, it’s going to be very difficult on those industries,\u201d Villalba said. \u201cWhat we’re seeing is a real head of steam going into the 2027 legislative session.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pablo Arauz Pe\u00f1a is KERA\u2019s growth and infrastructure reporter. Got a tip? Email Pablo at parauzpena@kera.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today<\/a>. Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new study by Dallas-based researchers finds that nearly all of the region\u2019s waterways are polluted with microplastics.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385143,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-385142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385142\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}