Microplastics collected in the San Francisco Bay Area are identified and labeled for research in a lab headed by Chelsea Rochman, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto. California is about to set the world’s first guidelines for microplastics in drinking water. Photo by Cole Brookson courtesy of Rochman Lab/CalMatters –By Rachel Becker/CalMatters California is poised to issue the world’s first guidelines for microplastics in drinking water despite no data on how plentiful they are in the state, no scientific agreement on how to test water for them and little research on their health risks.