MICROPLASTICS FOUND IN MOST BOTTLED WATER.
Study suggests contamination during bottling
Bottled drinking water is often contaminated with small particles of plastic, says a new study, and the industrial bottling process may be to blame.
Dr. Sherri Mason and her team at the State University of New York Fredonia analyzed 259 bottles from nine countries and found 93 per cent of the bottles showed signs of microplastic contamination. The research was part of a global investigation into bottled water done by Orb Media. There are currently no specific regulations regarding quantity of microplastics in bottled water in Canada, the United States or Europe, likely because there isn’t enough scientific evidence to suggest how much plastic exposure can be harmful to humans. “With a lot of this microplastics research we’re still at a ground level where we understand that this stuff is everywhere, but what we have less information on is what impact it has on human health and ecosystems,” said Dr. Michael Rennie, Canada Research Chair in Freshwater Ecology and Fisheries. But the World Heath Organization says it will take steps to address concerns. “As part of our continuous review of new evidence on water quality, we will review the very scarce available evidence with the objective of identifying evidence gaps, and establishing a research agenda to inform a more thorough risk assessment,” said a spokesperson.
The study has yet to be peer reviewed or published, but after looking it over Dr. Rennie said the results seem sound. “Generally I can see how they’ve obtained the results and it makes sense — I mean I’m not totally surprised to find that water bottled in plastic contains plastic particles.” Microplastics are defined as any plastic less than five millimetres in size, although Mason said this definition was shifting to less than one millimetre. Her team found an average of 325 microplastic particles per litre of water that were less than 0.10 millimetres in size (about the width of a human hair). The team found an average of 10.4 microplastic particles greater than 0.10 millimetres per litre of bottled water—doubletheaverage of what was found in a previous study on tap water. The type of plastic in the bottled water was also different than what was found in tap water. The latter had mostly fibres of plastic, whereas the bottled water had mostly fragments (rough pieces with sharp edges). The study concluded, “these results indicate the main source of the microplastic particulate is different,” and that, “the data seems to suggest that at least some of the plastic contamination may be coming from the industrial process of bottling the water itself.” Mason said that because the water bottles being studied hadn’t been reused, it was unlikely the bottle itself was disintegrating (although some could be breaking off the cap and entering the bottle when opened). Rather, it seemed likely to be coming from the actual process of bottling the water. “When you mould (a water bottle) you probably can’t mould it without having plastic fragments coming off,” she said. “We have this idea that plastic is clean but it’s an industrial process that manufactures these products so how we can even think it’s clean is shocking to me.” Mason also noted that microbeads — a type of microplastic that is perfectly round — weren’t found in the bottled water. Microbeads are being phased out of Canadian products with a ban expected this year. And while a lot of the hype around plastic contamination has revolved around large plastics harming wildlife, Dr. Jesse Vermaire — professor of environmental
I’M NOT ... SURPRISED TO FIND THAT WATER BOTTLED IN PLASTIC CONTAINS PLASTIC PARTICLES.
science at Carleton University — said we should be just as concerned about microplastics.
“Other contaminants can be absorbed by plastic kind of like a sponge, so even if a microplastic particle passed through your system, it might still be releasing the absorbed contaminants into you and the environment,” he said. The eleven water bottle brands tested in Mason’s study were Aquafina, Dasani, Evian, Nestle Pure Life, San Pellegrino, Aqua (Indonesia), Bisleri (India), Epura (Mexico), Gerolsteiner (Germany), Minolta (Brazil) and Wahaha (China). Dasani, Evian, Nestle, San Pellegrino, Aquafina, Aqua and Gerolsteiner each responded to a request for comment, saying they follow high quality standards and will continue playing their part to ensure their products are safe. The other companies didn’t respond before the Post went to press. “The vast majority of us, especially those of us in developed nations like Canada, the United States and Europe have access to clean, well regulated water which is much cleaner than bottled water,” said Mason. “You want to be drinking tap water.”