Water sold in bottles in France has a very variable content of microplastics, components whose uncertain effects on health give rise to concern, shows a study published Wednesday and carried out from around ten samples.
“Microplastic concentrations ranged from (…) 0.001 to 0.250 micrograms per liter”either “considerable variation”summarizes this study, published in the journal PLOS Water and carried out in particular by researchers from the CNRS in Toulouse.
“This suggests that the brand chosen (…) has a significant impact on the degree to which we are exposed to microplastics when ingesting bottled water”underlines this work.
Plastic microparticles have been causing concern for several years due to their omnipresence while their effects on health are largely unknown: their presence in the body is associated with multiple pathologies, but it remains difficult to prove a link. of cause and effect.
They also measured the presence of microplastics in tap water in Toulouse, which turned out to be rather high / Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP/Archives
The authors of the study published Wednesday looked at ten bottled waters, the names of which are not given. They also measured the presence of microplastics in tap water in Toulouse, which turned out to be rather high.
As evidenced by this last observation, the plastics identified are for the most part different from those contained in the bottles. It is therefore other stages of water treatment which seem mainly to be involved.
Another important observation: microplastics found in water – bottled and tap – are most of the time very small, less than 20 microns in diameter.
However, this category of microplastics is considered to pose the greatest risk to human health, particularly by the World Health Organization (WHO), due to their ability to penetrate the blood and various organs.
Due to the vast uncertainties about the real risks of microplastics, this study does not allow us to conclude that French bottled water is dangerous for health.
But it raises questions about the regulation of these products, which recently found themselves at the heart of a vast controversy after revelations about prohibited treatments applied to water produced by Nestlé.
Rules on microplastics are almost non-existent. The European Commission recently published a directive to make their measurement easier, but it does not include microplastics smaller than 20 microns, considered too difficult to detect.
The aim of the PLOS Water study was precisely to show that it is possible to accurately measure the content of such small microplastics.
“Not only does this study demonstrate that the protocol used is applicable, but it highlights the importance of including small microplastics in water analysis and regulation”conclude the researchers.