Plastic debris found in tap water, beer, and sea salt

You may think you’re ingesting a safe, clean product, but you’re really putting synthetic microfibers into your body.

It is one thing to hear about plastic pollution in oceans, lakes, and waterways; it’s altogether another to learn that plastic is in the food, seasonings, and beverages we’re consuming. A new open-access study, published in PLOS last week, has delved into this disturbing reality of our polluted planet, examining the precise quantities of plastic particles found in tap water, beer, and sea salt. The researchers analyzed 159 samples of tap water sourced from 14 countries, 12 brands of beer brewed using water from the Great Lakes, and 12 brands of commercial sea salt, purchased in the U.S. but produced internationally.

Tap water was found to have the highest level of plastic contamination (81 percent of the samples contained debris), mostly in the form of microfibers. "The highest mean for any country was found in the U.S. with 9.24 particles/litre while the four lowest means were from European Union (EU) nations."

Plastic debris was found in all 12 brands of beer that were tested. These breweries draw their water from the Great Lakes via municipal tap water, so these sources […]

Full article: Plastic debris found in tap water, beer, and sea salt

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