Every sip of a drink, a mouthful of plastic! University of Birmingham's latest report: 100% of commercially available beverages contain microplastics, with the average adult ingesting hundreds of particles daily.
Microplastics (MPs), defined as tiny plastic fragments ranging in size from 1μm to 5mm, originate from the breakdown of various plastic products, such as plastic water bottles, plastic bags, takeout containers, and food packaging. Microplastics are widely present in soil, water, and the atmosphere, and can enter the human body through the food chain, negatively impacting human health.
Previous studies have shown that microplastics are widely present in the human body, reaching various organs, including the blood, lungs, heart, brain, placenta, and reproductive system, raising concerns about long-term health effects.
A research team from the University of Birmingham recently published a research paper titled "Synthetic microplastics in hot and cold beverages from the UK market: Comprehensive assessment of human exposure via total beverage intake" in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
The study showed that microplastics were detected in 100% of all beverage samples analyzed, with higher concentrations in hot drinks than in cold drinks. Adults ingest significantly more microplastics through beverages than through drinking water, with an average daily intake exceeding 100 particles.
In this study, researchers analyzed 155 common hot and cold beverages sold in the UK for microplastic contamination. To avoid plastic contamination during the experiment, non-plastic materials were used. A public online survey was also conducted to comprehensively assess human microplastic intake from these hot and cold beverages.
The results found that microplastics were detected in 100% of all 155 beverages analyzed, with higher concentrations in hot drinks than in cold drinks, indicating that high temperatures accelerate the release of microplastics from packaging.
Hot tea had the highest microplastic concentration (an average of 60 particles per liter), followed by hot coffee (an average of 43 particles per liter). Detailed data is shown in the table below.
Analysis of microplastic particles revealed that the majority of microplastics found in these beverages ranged from 10 to 200 microns in size. The type of microplastic was highly correlated with the packaging material, with polypropylene (PP) being the most common, followed by polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyethylene (PE).
Researchers also assessed human intake. According to survey data, the average daily intake of microplastics from beverages by adults was 1.6-1.7 microplastics per kilogram of body weight per day, significantly higher than the amount ingested through drinking water (1 microplastic per kilogram of body weight per day).
Based on this data, a 70-kilogram adult would ingest approximately 112-119 microplastics per day through beverages, on average.
The researchers stated that the long-term health effects of microplastics are still unclear, but long-term intake may pose a more serious health threat by triggering inflammation, oxidative stress, disrupting endocrine function, and increasing cancer risk.
The researchers emphasized that due to technical limitations, the study only examined microplastics larger than 10 microns and did not analyze smaller particles, suggesting that the actual concentration of microplastics in beverages may be higher.
In summary, this study is the first to comprehensively assess the human intake of microplastics through beverages, and emphasizes that all samples tested contain microplastic particles, and the concentration of microplastics in hot drinks is higher than that in cold drinks.
