Drinking Boiled Tap Water Could Be an Effective Method for Reducing Human Ingestion of Nano- and Microplastics

Friday - March 1 2024, 19:10 UTC - 8 months ago

Boiling and filtering calcium-containing tap water can effectively remove up to 90% of nano- and microplastics, offering a simple and cost-effective solution for reducing human consumption of these harmful particles. The study, published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, suggests that this method could help reduce the negative impact of plastic waste on our health and the environment.

Nano- and microplastics have become a ubiquitous presence in our water, soil, and air, causing great concern for human health and the environment. With researchers struggling to find effective solutions for removing these plastic particles from our daily lives, a new study suggests a surprisingly simple method - boiling tap water.

As reported in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology Letters, the combination of boiling and filtering calcium-containing tap water removed up to 90% of the nano- and microplastics present. The researchers found that the process of boiling hard water causes the formation of a chalky substance called calcium carbonate, which encapsulates the plastic particles. This means that simply boiling and cooling the water can effectively remove these harmful particles.

The team tested samples of both hard and soft tap water from Guangzhou, China, and found that boiling hard water with high calcium carbonate concentrations (300mg/L) removed 90% of the nano- and microplastics. Even in soft water samples with lower concentrations of calcium carbonate (less than 60mg/L), 25% of the particles were removed by boiling. The team also suggests that any remaining particles can be filtered out using a simple coffee filter.

This method shows promise in being a simple and cost-effective way to reduce the consumption of nano- and microplastics in our daily lives. With the production of plastic waste on the rise and its adverse effects on our health and environment becoming more evident, it is crucial to find practical solutions that benefit us all. The study, entitled 'Drinking Boiled Tap Water Reduces Human Intake of Nanoplastics and Microplastics', was conducted by Zimin Yu, Jia-Jia Wang, Liang-Ying Liu, Zhanjun Li, and Eddy Y. Zeng. The authors received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and their work was published in the Environmental Science & Technology Letters journal on February 28, 2024.