Anthropogenic contamination of tap water, beer, and sea salt
Kosuth M, Mason SA, Wattenberg EV (2018). PLOS ONE.
What they found
81% of 159 tap water samples contained human-made particles, 98.3% of them fibres 0.1–5 mm long, at a mean of 5.45 particles per litre (range 0–61). Particles turned up in every beer and salt brand. The authors estimate an average person ingests over 5,800 synthetic particles a year from these three sources, 88% of it from tap water.
- Sample
- 159 tap water samples from around the world, 12 beer brands, 12 sea salt brands
- What it can't tell you
- Counts are of 'anthropogenic particles' identified mostly by eye, not all confirmed as plastic by spectroscopy. The abstract reports blank adjustment for beer and salt only, not tap water. Fibres are the shape most prone to airborne lab contamination. Tap samples were collected by journalists and volunteers, not a designed survey. Only particles over 100 µm were seen.
- Funding
- James W. Wright Scholarship, University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Orb Media provided international tap water samples. Authors declare no competing interests.
- Topics
- Drinking water, Food
- Checked against
- Abstract (Europe PMC, PMID 29641556); funding and COI from open-access full text (PMC5895013)