Free, but not microplastic-free, drinking water from outdoor refill kiosks: A challenge and a wake-up call for urban management

Shruti, V.C.; Kutralam-Muniasamy, Gurusamy; Pérez-Guevara, Fermín; Roy, Priyadarsi D.; Elizalde, Ignacio

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119800

Cited by 27 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…There are several variants of FT-IR, from attenuated total reflection (ATR) FT-IR used for larger samples that can be physically handled, to FT-IR coupled with optical microscopy (FT-IR microspectroscopy, or micro-FT-IR). FT-IR has been used to detect and classify microplastic in all matrices indicative of human exposure, from drinking water [52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59] to the studied food groups, [60][61][62][63][64][65] to air, [66][67][68] dust, 26,28 and human tissues and biofluids. 33,34,37,40,44,[69][70][71] The other vibrational spectroscopy technique that has been applied to microplastic classification, although by less than half as much (based on a PubMed search, "microplastic and FT-IR" resulting in 1102 articles versus "microplastic and Raman" resulting in 494 articles), is Raman spectroscopy.…”

Section: Analytical Methods For Microplastic Classification Character...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For water samples from outdoor refill kiosks (drinking water fountains), Fenton's reagent [30% H 2 O 2 , 0.05 Fe(II)] was used, heating the samples to 75 °C for 1 h, before filtering onto mixed cellulose ester filters (0.22 µm). 58 Heating samples above 50 °C is not advised prior to microplastic analysis due to the glass transition temperature of some polymers (e. g., 60 °C for PA), which may cause them to agglomerate. 9,79 Soluble Food: Salt, Sugar.…”

Section: External Exposurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…34,74 Otherwise, a laminar flow hood or equivalent is also considered good practice for minimizing background contamination. 54,[56][57][58]67,76,81,82 All reagents, including deionized water for equipment rinsing, should be filtered through filters that have the same or smaller pore sizes as the filters used for sample preparation and final analysis (e.g., Li et al, 63 Akoueson et al, 65 and Thiele et al 80 ). However, there is currently no standardization regarding the materials used for prefiltration.…”

Section: Notes On Filtrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Application of Infrared and Near-Infrared Microspectroscopy to Microplastic Human Exposure Measurements

Wright,

Levermore,

Ishikawa

2023

Appl Spectrosc

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Microplastic pollution is a global issue for the environment and human health. The potential for human exposure to microplastic through drinking water, dust, food, and air raises concern, since experimental in vitro and in vivo toxicology studies suggest there is a level of hazard associated with high microplastic concentrations. However, to infer the likelihood of hazards manifesting in the human population, a robust understanding of exposure concentrations is needed. Infrared and near-infrared microspectroscopies have routinely been used to analyze microplastic in different exposure matrices (air, dust, food, and water), with technological advances coupling multivariate and machine learning algorithms to spectral data. This focal point article will highlight the application of infrared and Raman modes of spectroscopy to detect, characterize, and quantify microplastic particles, with a focus on human exposure to microplastic. Methodologies and state-of-the-art approaches will be reported and potential confounding variables and challenges in microplastic analysis discussed. The article provides an up-to-date review of the literature on microplastic exposure measurement using (near) infrared spectroscopies as an analytical tool, highlighting the recent advances in this rapidly advancing field.

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Section: Analytical Methods For Microplastic Classification Character...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: External Exposurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Notes On Filtrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Application of Infrared and Near-Infrared Microspectroscopy to Microplastic Human Exposure Measurements

Wright,

Levermore,

Ishikawa

2023

Appl Spectrosc

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“…Regarding drinking water, the presence of microplastics has become a growing concern for scientists, policymakers, and the general public due to its potential impact on human health 8 . MPs enter drinking water supplies, either from wastewater discharges or as a result of atmospheric deposition 9 . Once inside drinking water treatment plants, some MPs are so small that escape treatment processes such as sand and granular activated carbon filtration, ultimately making their way to final product 10 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastics and non-natural cellulosic particles in Spanish bottled drinking water

Gálvez-Blanca,

Edo,

González-Pleiter

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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This investigation explored the presence of microplastics (MPs) and artificial cellulosic particles (ACPs) in commercial water marketed in single use 1.5 L poly(ethylene terephthalate) bottles. In this work we determined a mass concentration of 1.61 (1.10–2.88) µg/L and 1.04 (0.43–1.82) µg/L for MPs and ACPs respectively in five top-selling brands from the Spanish bottled water market. Most MPs consisted of white and transparent polyester and polyethylene particles, while most ACPs were cellulosic fibers likely originating from textiles. The median size of MPs and ACPs was 93 µm (interquartile range 76–130 µm) and 77 µm (interquartile range 60–96 µm), respectively. Particle mass size distributions were fitted to a logistic function, enabling comparisons with other studies. The estimated daily intake of MPs due to the consumption of bottled water falls within the 4–18 ng kg−1 day−1 range, meaning that exposure to plastics through bottled water probably represents a negligible risk to human health. However, it's worth noting that the concentration of plastic found was much higher than that recorded for tap water, which supports the argument in favour of municipal drinking water.

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“…Microplastics are widely defined as plastic particles with a size of less than 5 mm, 1 and the footprints of microplastics can be found all over the world, such as in marine organisms, 2 urban drinking water 3 and lakes, 4 soil, 5 livestock and poultry manure 6 and even in the human thrombus 7 and lungs. 8 Microplastics can adsorb heavy metals in water 9 and carcinogenic substances (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs) in sludge, 10 resulting in severe damage to the environment.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of mechanical action on the release of microplastic fibers during washing

Liu,

Wang,

Wang

et al. 2023

Textile Research Journal

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The release of microplastic fibers (MPFs) during washing is the main source of microplastic pollution in water environment. Mechanical action is the principle factor affecting the release of MPFs during washing. In order to better understand the effect of washing mechanical action on the release of MPFs, a washing simulation device was designed to study the effects of abrasion action, hydrodynamic flow action and beating action on the release of MPFs. The results show that there is a certain amount of floating MPF in the fabric due to the production process. The floating MPFs can be released in large quantities even though the mechanical action is weak, accounting for about 28% of the total MPF release. In addition, the release of secondary MPFs increases with the mechanical action. The increase of the abrasion times between fabric and fabric has the most significant effect on the release of MPFs. Compared with 60 abrasion times, the number of MPFs increased by about 16% and the average length decreased by 40% when abrasion was 5000 times. This study enhances the understanding of how mechanical action during washing affects the release of MPFs. This emphasizes the impact of floating MPFs, as well as the need to optimize the washing process to reduce the emission of MPFs.

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Free, but not microplastic-free, drinking water from outdoor refill kiosks: A challenge and a wake-up call for urban management

Cited by 27 publications

References 46 publications

Application of Infrared and Near-Infrared Microspectroscopy to Microplastic Human Exposure Measurements

Application of Infrared and Near-Infrared Microspectroscopy to Microplastic Human Exposure Measurements

Microplastics and non-natural cellulosic particles in Spanish bottled drinking water

The effect of mechanical action on the release of microplastic fibers during washing

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