Does mechanical stress cause microplastic release from plastic water bottles?
Winkler A, Santo N, Ortenzi MA, Bolzoni E, Bacchetta R, Tremolada P (2019). Water Research.
What they found
Opening and closing PET bottles 1, 10 and 100 times sharply increased plastic particles on the neck and especially the HDPE cap surfaces, with large differences between brands. Squeezing the bottles did not significantly raise particle counts in the water, and no stress cracks were found inside. The authors conclude the cap-and-neck system, not the bottle wall, is the main source with repeated reuse.
- Sample
- Single-use PET mineral water bottles with HDPE caps from several brands
- What it can't tell you
- Lab simulation of opening and squeezing, not real use. Mostly measures particles on surfaces; how many reach the water from cap abrasion was not fully quantified in the abstract. SEM/EDS identifies by shape and elements, which is less specific than spectroscopy. Number of brands and bottles not stated in the abstract.
- Funding
- Not checked (full text inaccessible). Crossref funder metadata lists Unitech and the University of Milan.
- Topics
- Drinking water, Packaging
- Checked against
- Abstract (Europe PMC, PMID 31542550); funder from Crossref metadata