According to the current state of knowledge, microplastics in drinking water seem to pose little threat to health. „Based on the limited information available, microplastics in drinking water do not appear to present a health risk at current levels,“ said World Health Organization (WHO) expert Maria Neira in her report released Wednesday.
Other impurities in the water are from today’s point of view much more important, also said WHO expert Bruce Gordon. The occurrence of microplastics in drinking water and its potential health effects, however, have to be investigated much more closely, WHO believes. That applies to the distribution of these particles and also for the risks, the WHO announced on Wednesday in Geneva on.
In any case, it is important to broaden the knowledge base and, above all, to stop the growth of the global plastic garbage mountain. „Microplastic is everywhere in the environment, including in the water cycle,“ says the WHO report.
Plastic amount will triple by 2050
The origin of the microplastics in drinking water is often unclear. Important sources are rain or meltwater and sewage. All in all, however, the available studies are too incomplete to be able to determine more precisely the respective extent of these inflows or to grasp the sources more precisely. „In addition, pollution can also occur in other processes such as treatment, distribution and bottling.“
In 2017, around 348 million tonnes of plastic were produced worldwide, excluding fiber production. This amount is set to double by 2025 in the face of population growth, consumption and disposable behavior, and is likely to triple by 2050, WHO estimates. The market is huge. In Europe alone, 60,000 companies with 1.5 million employees and a turnover of 355 billion euros produced plastic.
Effective cleaning would be possible
With proper cleaning, the wastewater can be cleaned by 90 percent of the microplastic. The same applies to the treatment of drinking water, WHO continued. The problem is that a large part of the world’s population currently does not benefit from adequate water and wastewater treatment.
The call for more research, especially in the possible effect of microplastics over 150 microns, also shares the environmentalist Hanns Moshammer of the Medical University of Vienna. „Healthy skin or mucous membrane actually represents a very efficient barrier to larger particles.“ There is a need for research on the barrier behavior of diseased skin or mucous membranes – for example after injuries or inflammation.
Danger by „macroplastic“ not forgotten
„Primarily, I see the danger of microplastics more for ecosystems than for human health. And dangers are not only caused by microplastics, but also by ‚macroplastic‘. For humans, the most important uptake path for microplastics is certainly not water at present, but cosmetics and toothpastes, whereby I would rather exclude immediate health risks here, „said Moshammer.
A research team led by the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Bremerhaven recently reported that microplastic particles trickle from the air onto the earth’s surface in the snow – even in the remote Arctic. The tiny particles are transported in the atmosphere and can be distributed over long distances.
Also through food and breathing
According to Australian researchers, people consume microplastics on a daily basis – through food, drinking water and mere breathing. Up to five grams of the tiny particles come into the body every week – depending on the circumstances. A credit card weighs about five grams. The study is based on data on microplastics – particles. which are smaller than five millimeters – in the air, in drinking water, in salt, in beer and in shellfish.
For example, significantly less microplastics were discovered in German tap water than in mineral water, said Martin Wagner of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim. It can be assumed that sewage treatment plants remove most of the plastic particles.
„The problem here, however, is that the microplastic is then in sewage sludge and gets back into the environment when the sewage sludge is used for fertilization in agriculture.“ About the health impact of microplastics could make no general statements.
