It turns out that bottled drinking water contains hundreds of thousands of microscopic plastics, some of which come from water purification filters
Microplastics and nanoplastics, which are fine particles of plastic, exist everywhere, including in the air and drinking water, and it has been confirmed that
Rapid single-particle chemical imaging of nanoplastics by SRS microscopy | PNAS
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2300582121
Bottled Water Can Contain Hundreds of Thousands of Previously Uncounted Tiny Plastic Bits, Study Finds
https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2024/01/08/bottled-water-can-contain-hundreds-of-thousands-of-previously-uncounted-tiny-plastic-bits-study-finds/
Organic materials such as dead trees and dead animals are broken down into different substances by the action of microorganisms, but most plastics are not broken down by microorganisms and remain as extremely fine particles. Plastic particles with a diameter of 5 mm to 1 micrometer are called microplastics, and particles with a diameter of less than 1 micrometer are called nanoplastics. These microscopic plastic particles are found in the sea, air,drinks , andhuman blood. , exist everywhere.
Research in 2023 confirmed that microplastics damage the human intestines, and the negative effects of microscopic plastics on humans are becoming increasingly clear, and the detailed information on the amount and types of microscopic plastics that exist around us is becoming increasingly clear. Analysis is required. However, according to the research team, existing research has not been able to grasp the number and types of nano-level particles. The research team analyzed the types and numbers of microscopic plastics up to 100 nanometers in size contained in bottled water by using `` stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy, '' which allows selective observation of specific molecules. .
The research team found that three types of bottled water sold in the United States contain '66 nylon (PA),' 'polypropylene (PP),' 'polyethylene (PE),' 'polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA),' and 'polyvinyl chloride.' , ``Polystyrene (PS)'' and ``Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)'' We measured the amount of seven types of plastics included. As a result, it was found that every liter of drinking water contained between 110,000 and 370,000 pieces of plastic. About 90% of these were nanoplastics and about 10% were microplastics.
Below is a graph showing which types of plastic were contained in the three types of drinking water analyzed. The upper pie chart shows the number ratio of each type of plastic, and the lower pie chart shows the volume ratio. Looking at the figure, you can see that the proportion of PET and PA is large. The research team said, ``PET is used as a material for bottles, and during transportation and storage, particles come off from the bottle and get mixed into the water.'' ``PA comes from plastic filters used to purify water.'' 'There is,' I think.
In the future, the research team plans to analyze fine plastics contained in tap water and laundry wastewater.
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in Science, Posted by log1o_hf