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Evaluation of microplastics release from solar water disinfection poly(ethylene terephthalate) and polypropylene containers
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Researchers evaluated whether PET bottles and polypropylene containers used for solar water disinfection release microplastics into treated water after sun exposure. They found that all container types released micro-sized plastic fragments after three months of natural weathering, with polypropylene containers releasing more particles than PET bottles. The study highlights the need for further safety evaluation of plastic containers used in solar disinfection systems, particularly in resource-limited settings.
Public health concern associated with the ingestion of microplastics (MPs) released from water packaging materials is increasing. The use of plastic materials for solar disinfection (SODIS) containers has also raised concerns in the SODIS community due to the lack of studies evaluating the presence of MPs in the treated water. In this work, the migration of MPs from poly(ethylene terephthalate, PET) bottles and polypropylene (PP) translucent and transparent jerrycan containers (TJC) into water under natural weathering was investigated using micro-reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (µ-FTIR). Containers exposed to sunlight for three months became photodegraded, releasing micro-sized fragments identified as PET, PP and high-density polyethylene (HDPE, from the screw-caps), although with varying degrees of weathering. It is noteworthy that the presence of a clarifying additive in PP formulation did not seem to impact the release of MPs from the containers. The study showed that PP TJC containers released more MPs than PET bottles. Finally, the size of MPs was measured to determine their fate upon ingestion and highlights the need for further studies to understand the safety of these plastic containers for SODIS.
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