Top bottled water
brands contaminated with dangerous microplastics.
NEW research has found
that 90 per cent of the world’s bottled water is contaminated with dangerous microplastics.
THE
world’s leading brands of bottled water are contaminated with tiny plastic
particles that are likely seeping in during the packaging process, according to
a major study across nine countries published Wednesday.
“Widespread
contamination” with plastic was found in the study, led by microplastic researcher Sherri
Mason of the State University of New York at Fredonia, according to a summary
released by Orb Media, a US-based non-profit media
collective.
Researchers
tested 250 bottles of water in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon,
Mexico, Thailand and the United States.
Plastic was
identified in 93 per cent of the samples, which included major name brands such
as Aqua, Aquafina, Dasani, Evian, Nestle Pure Life and San Pellegrino.
The plastic
debris included nylon, polythene terephthalate (PET) and polypropylene, which
is used to make bottle caps.
“In this study,
65 per cent of the particles we found were actually fragments and not fibres,”
Ms Mason told AFP.
“I think that
most of the plastic that we are seeing is coming from the bottle itself. It is
coming from the cap. It is coming from the industrial process of bottling the
water.”
Particle
concentration ranged from “zero to more than 10,000 likely plastic particles in
a single bottle,” said the report.
On average,
plastic particles in the 100 micron (0.10 millimetre) size range — considered
“microplastics” — were found at an average rate of 10.4 plastic particles per
litre.
Even smaller
particles were more common — averaging about 325 per litre.
Other brands
that were found to contain plastic contaminated included Bisleri, Epura,
Gerolsteiner, Minalba and Wahaha.
Experts
cautioned that the extent of the risk to human health posed by such
contamination remains unclear.
“There are
connections to increases in certain kinds of cancer to lower sperm count to
increases in conditions like ADHD and autism,” said Ms Mason.
“We know that
they are connected to these synthetic chemicals in the environment and we know
that plastics are providing kind of a means to get those chemicals into our
bodies.”
TIME TO DITCH PLASTIC?
Previous research
by Orb Media has found plastic particles in tap water, too, but on a smaller
scale.
“Tap water, by
and large, is much safer than bottled water,” said Ms Mason.
The three-month
study used a technique developed by the University of East Anglia’s School of
Chemistry to “see” microplastic particles by staining them using fluorescent
Nile Red dye, which makes plastic fluorescent when irradiated with blue light.
“We have been
involved with independently reviewing the findings and methodology to ensure
the study is robust and credible,” said lead researcher Andrew Mayes, from
UEA’s School of Chemistry. “The results stack up.”
However,
representatives from the bottled water industry took issue with the findings,
saying they were not peer-reviewed and “not based on sound science,” according
to a statement from the International Bottled Water Association.
“A recent
scientific study published in the peer-reviewed journal Water Research in
February 2018 concluded that no statistically relevant amount of microplastic
can be found in water in single-use plastic bottles,” it added.
“There is no
scientific consensus on the potential health impacts of microplastic particles.
The data on the
topic is limited and conclusions differ dramatically from one study to another.”
Jacqueline
Savitz, chief policy officer for North America at Oceana, a marine advocacy
group that was not involved in the research, said the study provides more
evidence that society must abandon the ubiquitous use of plastic water bottles.
“We know plastics
are building up in marine animals, and this means we too are being exposed,
some of us every day,” she said.
“It’s more
urgent now than ever before to make plastic water bottles a thing of the past.”
Experts
say that the plastics are likely seeping in during the packaging process.
Picture: Brian Blanco/AFPSource:AFP
Top
brands like Nestle Pure Life, Aquafina, Dasani and Evian were among those
tested in the study. Picture: Frederick J. Brown/AFPSource:AFP
.
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