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Majority of potable water microplastics are smaller than the 20 μm EU methodology limit for consumable water quality
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Researchers tested ten brands of bottled water and found that 98% of the microplastic particles were smaller than 20 micrometers, which is below the detection limit set by EU drinking water regulations. This means current testing methods miss the vast majority of microplastics in drinking water. The smallest particles are also the most concerning for health because they are more likely to pass through the gut lining and enter the bloodstream.
Microplastic (MP) content in nutrition including potable water is unregulated, although MP concentrations in individual brands of bottled water diverge by several orders of magnitude. The EU Directive 2020/2184 on consumable water quality recently proposed methodological approaches to the detection of MPs in potable water in the size range of 20–5000 μm. However, fine MPs in the 1–20 μm range are far more likely to pass the human intestine into blood and organs. To evaluate the impact of this omission on the total number of detected MPs, we determined MP concentrations down to 1 μm in ten different brands of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottled water and one tap water sample using automated Raman microspectroscopy. We found that MP concentrations ranged from 19 to 1,154 (n/L) [0.001 to 0.250 μg/L], and although all the investigated samples of bottled water were stored in PET containers, PET accounted only for a small percentage of identified MPs in most samples. Importantly, 98 and 94% of MPs measured less than 20 and 10 μm in diameter, respectively, demonstrating the importance of small MP inclusion in potable water analyses and regulation. The current study presents a protocol to identify MPs down to 1 μm in any type of potable water regardless of hardness, and demonstrates the importance of implementing both negative and positive procedural, quality control measures.
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Majority of potable water microplastics are smaller than the 20 µm EU methodology limit for consumable water quality
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Researchers analyzed microplastic content in potable water samples down to 1 micrometer in size, well below the 20-micrometer minimum specified by the EU's proposed methodology for drinking water quality testing. They found that the majority of microplastics detected were smaller than 20 micrometers, meaning current regulatory approaches would miss most of the contamination. The study raises concerns that the smallest particles, which are more likely to cross biological barriers, are not being captured by proposed monitoring standards.
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Researchers detected nanoplastics in commercially bottled drinking water using novel nanoparticle analysis techniques, finding particles in the nanometer size range in multiple brands. These findings are concerning because nanoplastics are thought to be more biologically active than larger microplastics and can more easily cross biological barriers in the body.
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A global analysis of tap water from 34 countries found that microplastics were present in 87% of over 1,100 samples tested, with particles smaller than 50 micrometers being the most common. When researchers looked for particles as small as 1 micrometer, concentrations were more than 20 times higher than studies that only counted larger particles. This means that most people worldwide are regularly drinking microplastics in their tap water, and the true extent of exposure has likely been underestimated.
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