In France, an association recently conducted a survey whose conclusion is quite worrying. 78% of bottled water tested during the study contained plastic microparticles. However, the level of microplastics in bottles differs between brands.
A test on water marketed in France
In 2018, we mentioned a study conducted by the Orb Media collective in the United States, the results of which were rather alarming. This survey concluded that 93% of the 250 bottled water samples tested contained microplastics. In 2020, an Australian study claimed that the simple act of opening a plastic bottle releases thousands of microplastics.
In France in July 2022, the association Agir pour l’Environnement published a file entitled “We drink plastic! “. To conduct their investigation, the authors started from the observation that plastic generates astronomical quantities of microplastics contaminating ecosystems and the human body. Moreover, this same plastic does not degrade, but breaks up into microparticles.
The association checked whether or not the main bottled waters marketed in France were affected by the problem. For example, the brands Cristalline, Evian, Vittel, Volvic as well as Perrier and Badoit are listed. In conclusion, Agir pour l’Environnement claims that 78% of this bottled water contains microplastics.
Shocking results
In addition, there is also the question of the microplastic content of these bottles, which differs according to the brands. Most waters contain between 1 and 7 microparticles per litre, but the prize goes unquestionably to the Vittel Kids with 121 microparticles per litre. In addition, only two bottles out of the nine tested did not contain any microplastic.
The authors of the study believe that the main origin of this contamination could be industrial. The microplastics would indeed come from the degradation of the packaging and/or fragments detaching from the cap. On the other hand, scientific research on the subject is not legion, so that the source or sources of microplastics are not yet fully understood. This observation is also shared by the WHO, which points to a lack of studies preventing effective measurement of health risks.
Today, microplastics contaminate many places, sometimes even very remote (high mountains, ocean trenches, etc.) and very recently, a first case of detection of microplastics in living human lungs has been documented. This shows that if we drink and eat microplastics, we also breathe them in.
