A Simple Two-Step Process Can Remove Microplastics from Drinking Water
Microplastics are everywhere. These are the conclusions of study after study which has revealed the discovery of tiny fragments of plastic, measuring less than 5 millimeters wide, in increasingly worrying places in our bodies and our environment.
Learn more: Crickets will eat microplastics whole, causing more nanoplastics to spread
Microplastics accumulate in our bodies
A 2019 study estimates that individuals consume hundreds of microplastic particles per day. Subsequent research suggests that the brain accumulates more of these plastics than other organs. The rate of accumulation in our bodies reflects how plastic waste has accumulated across the planet.
Plastics are released from kitchen equipment, clothing and various other household items. They do not break down easily and have been found on every continent, including near the summit of Mount Everest, in the deepest ocean trenches and, according to the British Antarctic Survey, even in the snowdrifts of Antarctica.
Scientists are increasingly concerned about the potential impact of these fragments on the human body. The molecules can cause tissue inflammation and be linked to conditions such as cancer, heart disease and reproductive problems, according to a Stanford Medicine report.
Chinese researchers say you might at least be able to remove microplastics from your drinking water with a relatively simple trick. While wastewater treatment plants aim to eliminate these particles, a study carried out in Sciences of Total Environment suggests that these interventions are not fully effective in cleaning the water supply.
The researchers, who published their results in Letters on environmental sciences and technologies, tested whether they could successfully remove microplastics from hard and soft tap water.
The team also tested whether their technique could remove even smaller nanoplastics, particles ranging in size from a nanometer to a micrometer.
How to remove microplastics from drinking water
The research team boiled the water, then filtered the precipitates formed. This two-step strategy removed both types of microplastics from the water, but the effectiveness of the technique varied greatly depending on the type of water. They noted that the strategy more effectively removed plastics from harder waters. At 80 mg L−1 of calcium carbonate, which corresponds to very soft tap water, the removal efficiency was only 34 percent. The same technique could remove 90% of microplastics and nanoplastics from very hard water, with calcium carbonate levels of 300 mg·L−1.
After boiling, the plastics become trapped in limestone precipitates; therefore, higher water hardness, which produces more limescale, gives better removal efficiency. These are the same precipitates that form inside kitchen kettles after boiling water in areas with very hard water.
This can then be removed using simple filters, such as metal filters used to filter tea.
“This simple strategy of boiling water can “decontaminate” [nano- and microplastics] of domestic tap water and has the potential to safely reduce human consumption of [nano- and microplastics] via water consumption,” the researchers write in their article.
Boiling water is already a recommended process in emergencies when toxins or microbes may have entered our drinking water supply. If the growing levels of microplastics in our environment are not addressed, they risk becoming a new emergency forcing us to boil our drinking water.
Learn more: Zebrafish can expel nanoplastics quickly in their gut, but not as quickly in the brain
Article sources
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