Microplastic Concentration in Bottled Water: A Study by the University of Chile

2024-01-15 00:16:00

The researchers pointed out that the concentration of the particles also depends on the source of the water, that is, whether it is purified (filtered or processed), has lacustrine (lake) origin, or comes from natural springs.

A study of the University of Chile revealed what are the brands of bottled water that are marketed in the country with the largest quantity of microplastics.

The research was carried out in 2022 by a team from the Department of Chemistry of the Faculty of Sciences of the study house, which analyzed 12 watermarks that are sold in the Metropolitan Region, considering nationally produced brands as well as imported ones.

First of all, it is necessary to clarify that the microplastics They are all those fragments of the material that measure from 1 micron (µm) to 5 millimeters. To get an idea, a red blood cell (blood cell) has a dimension between 5 and 7 µm in diameter and 1µm thick. For the sample, three sizes of microplastics were considered: 5 a 20 µm, of 20 a 50 µm, and 50 µm or more.

Microscopic but dangerous results

On average, the bottles analyzed had a microplastic concentration of 391 particles per liter of water. The brand with the highest concentration of these microparticles found in Chile had an estimated total of 633 particles per liter.

In addition, it was found that the quantities of the smallest microplastics (5 to 20 microns) represented more than 50% of the particles present in each container. According to the publication of the University of Chile, these dimensions “have been reported as susceptible to accumulating in the digestive tract or generating potential alterations in the lymphatic and circulatory systems”.

The researchers reported that there is also a difference between the amount of microplastics present in the source of water, that is, depending on whether it is purified (filtered or processed), has origin lacustrine (from lake), or comes from natural springs.

In this sense, the purified ones were the ones that showed the highest concentrations of microplastics (519 particles per liter), followed by the lake ones (364 per liter). The bottles that had the lowest concentration of particles were those that had springs as their source.

The main author of the study, Fallon Nacaratte, commented that the objective of the study is “to analyze the situation, quantify the phenomenon and, in this way, contribute to a problem about which little is still known and has not been addressed by public policy. Likewise, these results can contribute in some way to brands being able to improve your production and packaging systems”.

Meanwhile, Carlos Manzano, another of the authors of the research, maintained that, considering that the average annual consumption of bottled water per capita in Chile is 38 liters, each Chilean “could be consuming between 160 and 270 particles of plastic for every kilogram of your body weight for a year.” Despite the number, still it is unknown whether the ingestion of microplastics represents a direct threat to the human organism.