New Delhi

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has granted the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) eight weeks to submit a further progress report on the development of uniform methodologies for sampling, preparation, and detection of microplastics in different environmental matrices.

A bench comprising NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Expert Member Dr Afroz Ahmad passed the direction while hearing proceedings arising from news reports on the presence of microplastics in Indian salt and sugar brands and their detection in human blood.

The tribunal allowed CPCB’s request for additional time to place the progress report on record and listed the matters for further hearing on February 4, 2027.

In its report dated October 13, CPCB informed the tribunal that the Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering & Technology (CIPET) had agreed to develop a methodology for sampling, sample preparation, and analysis of microplastics in freshwater and soil.

The report stated that a joint committee constituted to develop a uniform methodology had held a series of meetings, including its sixth meeting on September 9, 2026, to review progress and facilitate the development of specific procedures for detecting microplastics across different environmental matrices.

According to the report, the Bureau of Indian Standards has adopted IS 18998:2025, titled “Principles for the Analysis of Microplastics Present in the Environment”. However, the committee has not been able to finalise a uniform methodology because the standard provides guiding principles but does not prescribe detailed, matrix-specific procedures for sampling, sample preparation, and analysis.

CPCB informed the tribunal that, besides CIPET, the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) had agreed to develop methodologies for different environmental samples.

Under the proposed allocation, NCSCM will work on microplastics in marine water, coastal sediments, sludge, and biota, while CSIR-NEERI will develop the methodology for detecting microplastics in air.

CPCB said the institutions had been asked to submit proposals outlining their proposed methodologies. These proposals would be examined by the board’s Scientific, Technical and Financial Evaluation Committee before the work is awarded through memoranda of understanding.

The studies are proposed to be funded through the NGTEC fund maintained by CPCB.

The report stated that the development of a comprehensive national methodology would require matrix-specific standardisation and inter-laboratory validation before the methods could be recommended for nationwide implementation. It sought approximately 12 months to develop and finalise the uniform methodologies for water, soil or sediment, air, sludge and biota.

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The tribunal was hearing an application concerning a news report dated August 13, 2024, titled “All Indian Salt Sugar Brands Contain Microplastics Reveals Study”, along with proceedings in an application arising from a March 29, 2022, report in the media titled “Detecting Microplastics in Human Blood”.