Microplastic

What is Microplastics? Used plastics turn to wastes and degrade into smaller and smaller pieces. These plastic wastes are then identified as microplastics (less than five millimeters in length).

Does Microplastics cause health risk?

Studies have found that microplastics can come in the forms of physical hazard, chemicals and microorganisms known as biofilms. These forms could risk our health when eaten as it may damage the human cells causing cell dead and allergic reactions.

However, there are still no strong evidence that microplastics in drinking water could pose a threat to our health.

Are there Microplastics in drinking water?

In 2018, a research conducted by the State University of New York - Fredonia ("SUNY-Fredonia") titled "Synthetic Polymer Contamination in Bottled Water" revealing that many international brands of bottled water were contaminated with microplastics, which, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the European Chemicals Agency, are very small fragments of plastic originating from various industrial and manufacturing processes and products that can contaminate natural ecosystems.

The tests done by SUNY-Fredonia covered 259 individual bottles from 27 different lots across 11 brands, purchased from 19 locations in nine countries around the world. The SUNY-Fredonia report noted that there was an average of 325 particles per litre, with concentration ranging from zero to more than 10,000 particles in a single bottle. From the samples, the report found that 93% were found to contain microplastics.

NO Microplastics in Spritzer Natural Mineral Water.

In 2021, Spritzer conducted research on its natural mineral water through an independent laboratory, SIRIM Berhad, showing that no microplastics have been detected. The laboratory had conducted tests from a sample taken from a 600ml Spritzer Natural Mineral Water bottle produced on 21 January 2021 and did not detect any synthetic polymers or microplastics, even when examined under 50 times magnification.

The findings from SIRIM are a powerful affirmation of the stringent quality processes practiced by Spritzer, and a testament to its efforts in ensuring that the 390-acre protected site in Taiping, Perak located near a tropical rainforest from which the Company draws the sources of its natural mineral water, is kept clean and safe for consumption.

Microplastics in drinking-water. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO

Journal of Hazardous Materials, 427 (2021), Article 127861, 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127861

Mason SA, Welch VG and Neratko J (2018) Synthetic Polymer Contamination in Bottled Water. Front. Chem. 6:407. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2018.00407

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