Plastic+Particles+Found+in+Bottled+Water

= Plastic particles found in bottled water = BBC Written by David Shukman Accessed on April 17th, 2018 []

Summary:

Water bottles from countries all around the world were tested and close to all of them were found to contain microplastic. Since there is not much evidence that ingesting microplastics does a significant amount of harm, the most important motivation was the study was to merely show how plastic infringes on society. When confronted, many companies stated that the lack of regulation and testing is to blame. Researchers included 11 different bottle companies into their study including leading brands such as Aquafina, Dasani, Evian, and Nestle. A dye called Nile Red was used to locate particles and is considered reputable because the other substances that this dye can bind to are rarely found in bottled water, such as shells or algae. One theory of the source of this plastics was from the opening of bottle caps, another was from the air. Most companies, in response, attempted to invalidate the research found by comparing procedure and claiming that the study of microplastics was still in its infancy.

Relation to Course:

This article has relations to this course because of how it incorporates our water pollution unit. Firstly, “ the screening for plastic involved adding a dye called Nile Red to each bottle.” This relates to the portion in our textbook about detecting water pollution and specifically chemical analysis (Miller 535). Additionally, we can apply this article because plastic is part of a major category of water pollutants. Plastic is an organic chemical, along with “oil, gasoline, pesticides, cleaning solvents, detergents, and many other chemicals.” Inorganic chemicals have been found to “threaten human health and harm fish and other aquatic life” (Miller 534). Additionally it relates to the section about drinking water quality. According to the textbook, “treatment of water for drinking by city dwellers is much like wastewater treatment” (Miller 556) which makes you question if bottled water is necessary.

Opinion:

I, for one, am more concerned with the effects the bottled water industry has on marine life than humans. I think that with research the ways that marine life are affected are more clear than its effects on humans. For example, “infertility, poisoning, and genetic disruption” are things to be concerned about in marine life (Independent 2016). As far as humans go, as mentioned in the article, the effects on human health are limitedly known and this science needs more time for us to raise a more serious concern. Additionally, if the plastic in the water is partially sourced from the air, we would be breathing it in anyway so plastic bottles would not prevent us from getting anything that we would have already gotten. However, I am more peeved that people living in developed countries with quality city water treatment centers think that drinking tap water is beneath them, especially considering the limited regulations that are placed on bottled water in the first place. Of course, bottled water remains immensely important in the implication of people living in developing countries that otherwise would be negatively affected by water pollution.

Law:

This article relates to the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 which requires the EPA to establish national drinking water standards. This includes setting maximum contaminant levels and recognizing effects on human health. The implications of this law are important because industries that are water-polluting are very interested in weakening the Safe Drinking Water Act, while environmentalists are interested in strengthening the requirements and improving treatment.

 Here’s an interesting graph listing the different types of plastics found in bottled water and their quantities. This image comes directly from the study that was held in the State University of New York Fredonia.