Exposure to microplastics (<10 μm) associated to plastic bottles mineral water consumption: The first quantitative study
Abstract
The uncontrolled introduction into the environment of plastic polymers have caused the dispersion of plastic fragments, known as Microplastics (MPs), that represent an important topic for public health. This study was the first to investigate the cause of the release of MPs in mineral waters and to estimate the concentration of MPs smaller than 10 μm both in number of particles and in mass unit. This study was carried out using a patent method regarding the extraction and analysis of MPs in more kind of matrix. Therefore, aims of this study were a) to assess the number of MPs with diameters of between 0.5 and 10 μm in mineral waters contained in plastic bottles, b) to evaluate if the physical-chemical properties of mineral waters and bottle quality could influence the release of MPs and, finally, c) to estimate the human daily exposure to MPs due to mineral water consumption. The Mps were found in every sample. The main concentration of MPs was 656.8 μg/L ± 632.9 or 5.42E+07 p/L ± 1.95E+07. The main diameter of detected MPs was 2.44 μm ± 0.66 (where p/L, where p was the number of MPs). The Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) for adults and children were 1,531,524 p/kg/body-weight/day corresponding to 40.1 μg/kg/body-weight/day and 3,350,208 p/kg/body-weight/day corresponding to 87.8 μg/kg/body-weight/day, respectively. The number of MPs contamination in bottled mineral waters was strongly correlated to the pH of waters and to plastic density of bottle. Otherwise, micrograms of MPs per liter and the MPs diameters were strongly affected by plastic thickness. The most mineral water brand contaminated by MPs was the one whose bottles were made from poor quality plastic. In absence of reference values, it was no possible carried out a risk assessment for MPs exposure. It is fundamental to establish the reference method of analysis to monitoring every source of human intake.
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If all detected organic particles originate from plastics, the micro-nano plastic concentration could be as high as 10^6 particles per liter.
“In this sense, if we assume all detected organic particles originate from plastics [the same assumption entailed by the quantitative result from SEM-EDX or Nile Red staining (19, 74)], the micro-nano plastic concentration could be as high as 106 particles per liter.”
From Rapid single-particle chemical imaging of nanoplastics by SRS microscopy (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
A growing body of evidence points out that the presence of plastics poses potential risks to human health via ingestion.
“a growing body of evidence points out that the presence of plastics poses potential risks to human health via ingestion [32].”
From Consumption of Bottled Water and Chronic Diseases: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study (2024) · cites this paper as [32]
Literature knowledge on bottled water is constrained to microplastics, leaving nanoplastics mostly uncharted.
“the literature knowledge is constrained to microplastics in bottled water (SI Appendix, Table S4) (19, 60–62), leaving the nanoplastics mostly uncharted”
From Rapid single-particle chemical imaging of nanoplastics by SRS microscopy (2024) · cites this paper as [19]
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“Despite several worldwide efforts, the production and use of plastic is constantly increasing [31]; and a growing body of evidence points out that the presence of plastics poses potential risks to human health via ingestion [32].”
Background
- Authors
- Zuccarello, P., Ferrante, M., Cristaldi, A., Copat, C., Grasso, A., Sangregorio, D., Fiore, M., & Oliveri Conti, G.
- Affiliations
- University of Catania (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Ferrante, M.
- Venue
- Water Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-06
- Volume
- 157
- Pages
- 365-371
- ISSN
- 0043-1354 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2928772646
- Cited by
- 425
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 59 · 2025: 77 · 2024: 91 · 2023: 59 · 2022: 56 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 11
- FWCI
- 10.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Water Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Environmental and Food Hygiene Laboratories
- University of Catania
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Effects and risks of endocrine disrupting chemicals
- Keywords
- microplastics, bottled mineral water, plastic bottles, microplastic exposure, estimated daily intake, microplastic release, pH, plastic density, human health risk, microplastic concentration
- MeSH terms
- Child, Drinking, Environmental Monitoring, Humans, Mineral Waters, Minerals, Plastics, Water Pollutants, Chemical
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