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Microplastics Found In 93 Percent of Bottled Water Tested In Global Study (www.cbc.ca)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CBC.ca: The bottled water industry is estimated to be worth nearly $200 billion a year, surpassing sugary sodas as the most popular beverage in many countries. But its perceived image of cleanliness and purity is being challenged by a global investigation that found the water tested is often contaminated with tiny particles of plastic. The research was conducted on behalf of Orb Media, a U.S-based non-profit journalism organization with which CBC News has partnered. Professor Sherri Mason, a microplastics researcher who carried out the laboratory work at the State University of New York, and his team tested 259 bottles of water purchased in nine countries (none were bought in Canada). Though many brands are sold internationally, the water source, manufacturing and bottling process for the same brand can differ by country. The 11 brands tested include the world's dominant players -- Nestle Pure Life, Aquafina, Dasani, Evian, San Pellegrino and Gerolsteiner -- as well as major national brands across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Researchers found 93 per cent of all bottles tested contained some sort of microplastic, including polypropylene, polystyrene, nylon and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Orb found on average there were 10.4 particles of plastic per liter that were 100 microns (0.10 mm) or bigger. This is double the level of microplastics in the tap water tested from more than a dozen countries across five continents, examined in a 2017 study by Orb that looked at similar-sized plastics. Other, smaller particles were also discovered -- 314 of them per liter, on average -- which some of the experts consulted about the Orb study believe are plastics but cannot definitively identify. The amount of particles varied from bottle to bottle: while some contained one, others contained thousands.
Orb found on average there were 10.4 particles of plastic per liter that were 100 microns (0.10 mm) or bigger. This is double the level of microplastics in the tap water tested from more than a dozen countries across five continents, examined in a 2017 study by Orb that looked at similar-sized plastics. Other, smaller particles were also discovered -- 314 of them per liter, on average -- which some of the experts consulted about the Orb study believe are plastics but cannot definitively identify. The amount of particles varied from bottle to bottle: while some contained one, others contained thousands.
Honest question: is the 100 micron size for microplastics significant for some reason? The environment is filled with things that are bad for us but our bodies provide some degree of mitigation for many things. At what sizes and concentrations do we observe negative effects to the body?
when we introduce a cheap alternative to natural products, there's always a hidden cost the greedy selfish and irresponsible manufactures don't ever want to acknowledge
Doesn't have to be artificial. Could be natural too...
Many years ago, when woody plants were first developing there was nothing in nature that could break down wood. There was a build up of wood all over the planet before organisms first learnt to devour them. I can't help but wonder if microfragments of wood and fragments of wood didn't "pollute" and "accumulate" in the world like plastic does today. Obviously, wood was created by biological processes, not man-driven processes, but it was essentially the same thing- an increasing volume of the planet's surface area being "polluted" by a product that can't and won't break down for potentially thousands of years and just accumulating.
Eventually organisms will evolve to devour plastic and break down those yummy hydrocarbon bonds. Until then, we've got a mess on our hands, like the world did when wood was an undigestable product.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Two bottled waters I purchase are from a local well or mountain spring where there are no sources of animal waste or industrial pollution. My community has a recycling program that collects cans, bottles, and paper so these things don't go into oceans, rivers or a landfill..
Microplastics do. That's the point of this study. When you open the cap, lots of microplastics deposit into the water (most too small to be seen with the eye, a significant portion small enough to be absorbed into your blood stream)- some are already in the water from the bottle and from other sources. Unless you pisas and kakas directly into a plastic recycling plant... all that plastic you are consuming passes through you and out of you in your waste... And eventually makes it's way into rivers and oceans. All those tiny microplastics will pass through many organisms...
The question is, do all these microplastics going around your body cause any harm? We don't know.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Err...what danger???
Seriously...I grew up when pretty much ALL store bought drinks were in glass.
I remember buying cokes in regular sized and even 2L glass bottles, and as a kid...finding them and returning to the 7-11 to get the deposit back on them.
I can assure you there were no mass outbreaks of cuts, dismemberments or death due to everything being in glass bottles.
Sure, if you drop them, they can and did break, but at least back then, we had enough common sense to not step in the middle of them barefoot.
Hell, even today...I pretty much only buy beer in bottles, just tastes better.
I only buy canned beer when around water (boating, swimming pools, etc).
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Honest question: is the 100 micron size for microplastics significant for some reason?
I think that the reason they used 100 micron is that it shows that the water contamination is coming after the water is filtered. 100 microns is pretty big.
Then again - and it is just my cynicism showing - I suspect that a lot of bottled water isn't filtered at all.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.