Cited by 134Microplastics and Plastic PollutionPharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental ImpactsFecal contamination and water quality

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 33 of the 33 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

From the Well to the Bottle: Identifying Sources of Microplastics in Mineral Water

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Abstract

Microplastics (MP) have been detected in bottled mineral water across the world. Because only few MP particles have been reported in ground water-sourced drinking water, it is suspected that MP enter the water during bottle cleaning and filling. However, until today, MP entry paths were not revealed. For the first time, this study provides findings of MP from the well to the bottle including the bottle washing process. At four mineral water bottlers, five sample types were taken along the process: raw and deferrized water samples were filtered in situ; clean bottles were sampled right after they left the bottle washer and after filling and capping. Caustic cleaning solutions were sampled from bottle washers and MP particles isolated through enzymatic and chemical treatments. The samples were analyzed for eleven synthetic and natural polymer particles ≥11 µm with Fourier-transform infrared imaging and random decision forests. MP were present in all steps of mineral water bottling, with a sharp increase from <1 MP L−1 to 317 ± 257 MP L−1 attributed to bottle capping. As 81% of MP resembled the PE-based cap sealing material, abrasion from the sealings was identified as the main entry path for MP into bottled mineral water.

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Eßlinger, H.M. (2009). Filling. Handbook of Brewing. Processes, Technology, Markets, WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. · DOI
  2. Ben, 2020, Optimizing Bottle Washer Performance in Cleaning Returnable Glass Bottles for Reuse in Beverage Packaging, Int. J. Adv. Sci. Technol., 29, 8149

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Metadata

Authors
Weisser, J., Beer, I., Hufnagl, B., Hofmann, T., Lohninger, H., Ivleva, N. P., & Glas, K.
Affiliations
  • Technical University of Munich (DE)
  • TU Wien (AT)
Corresponding author
Weisser, Jana
Venue
Water
Publisher
MDPI AG
Published
2021-03-19
Volume
13
Issue
6
Pages
841
ISSN
2073-4441 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3137433286
Cited by
134
References
33
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 8
FWCI
5.64
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Water (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • mediaTUM – the media and publications repository of the Technical University Munich (Technical University Munich) (submittedVersion)
  • mediaTUM (Technical University of Munich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
Bayerische Forschungsstiftung (1258-16)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Fecal contamination and water quality
Keywords
microplastics, mineral water, bottled water, abrasion, bottle washing, microplastic sources, polymer particles, Fourier transform infrared imaging, random forest

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