How to Reduce Microplastics in Tap Water? Expert Shares Easy Way To Remove 80% of Tiny Plastic
Microplastics are everywhere, even in your drinking water. An expert shared an easy way to remove them from tap water.
How to Remove Microplastics From Tap Water?
Any polymers that are shorter than five millimeters (0.2 inches) are referred to as microplastics. They can be found in cosmetics and industrial garbage but can also arise when bigger plastic waste particles break down. Many of these plastic fragments wind up in our seas, which, according to UNESCO's Ocean Literacy Portal, are thought to contain between 50 and 75 trillion particles of micro- and bigger plastics.
These plastic particles include compounds that can interfere with our body's normal hormone production, raising our risk of cancer and reproductive issues. They can be toxic. To make matters worse, they can further degrade and become nanoplastics. They are so small that they can pass the current filter systems.
To address this, researchers from Guangzhou, China, gathered samples of hard tap water and found a trick to filter microplastics: boiling them.
The researchers added varying concentrations of nano- and microplastics to the samples. To determine the number of microplastics, they boiled the samples for five minutes and then allowed them to cool.
Hard water is high in minerals and, when heated, yields minor amounts of limescale, also known as calcium carbonate -- the white buildup that floats on top of your tea and coffee. The white scum separates the plastic particles from the rest of the liquid by encasing them when the water boils.
The remaining liquid can be extracted from the floating limescale and the encapsulating plastics using a basic filter, such as a coffee filter. Up to 90% of the free-floating micro- and nanoplastics in the water were eliminated by employing this technique.
Approximately 25% of the nano- and microplastics found in soft water samples were eliminated by this approach, even though these impacts were more noticeable in hard water.
"This simple boiling-water strategy can 'decontaminate' nano- and microplastics from household tap water and has the potential for harmlessly alleviating human intake of nano- and microplastics through water consumption," the authors wrote.
ALSO READ: Paper Straws Are Not More Sustainable, Eco-Friendly Than Plastic; Here's Why
Women's Placentas Have Toxic Microplastics
Another study from the University of New Mexico found that 62 analyzed women's placentas contained microplastics. Small pieces of plastic were in each one, no bigger than five millimeters. Microplastics seem to impact them despite the widespread belief that the placenta shields them from the environment.
The particles ranged in size from 6.5 to 790 micrograms, with an average concentration of 128.6 micrograms per gram of donated placenta. The polymers found in bottles and plastic bags accounted for around 54% of the microplastics, with materials used in construction and nylon following at 10% each. The remaining polymers came from nine other types of plastic.
According to research author Matthew Campe, If consequences are shown on placentas, then all mammalian life on Earth might be affected.
Still, the research says it's too early to panic. Furthermore, it was advised that pregnant women should not change their diet to remove microplastics since this would not be beneficial to the developing fetus.
RELATED ARTICLE: Bored People Are More Likely to Donate Blood and Do Other Meaningful Tasks, Study Shows
Check out more news and information on Microplastics in Science Times.