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Review
. 2022 Apr 26;19(9):5283.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095283.

Occurrence of Microplastics in Tap and Bottled Water: Current Knowledge

Isabella Gambino  1 , Francesco Bagordo  1 , Tiziana Grassi  1 , Alessandra Panico  1 , Antonella De Donno  1
Affiliations
Review

Occurrence of Microplastics in Tap and Bottled Water: Current Knowledge

Isabella Gambino et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

A narrative review was carried out to describe the current knowledge related to the occurrence of MPs in drinking water. The reviewed studies (n = 21) showed the presence of microplastics (MPs) in tap (TW) and bottled (BW) water, increasing concerns for public health due to the possible toxicity associated with their polymeric composition, additives, and other compounds or microorganism adsorbed on their surface. The MP concentration increase by decreasing particles size and was higher in BW than in TW. Among BW, reusable PET and glass bottles showed a higher MP contamination than other packages. The lower MP abundance in TW than in natural sources indicates a high removal rate of MPs in drinking water treatment plants. This evidence should encourage the consumers to drink TW instead of BW, in order to limit their exposure to MPS and produce less plastic waste. The high variability in the results makes it difficult to compare the findings of different studies and build up a general hypothesis on human health risk. A globally shared protocol is needed to harmonize results also in view of the monitoring plans for the emerging contaminants, including MPs, introduced by the new European regulation.

Keywords: bottled water; drinking water; exposure; microplastics; tap water; toxicity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Types of MPs in the surface water and sediments from coastal Guangdong (a–d): (a) pellets, (b) fibers, (c) fragments, (d) films [12].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Temporal representation of current studies on DW from 2010 to 2022.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Geographical representation of MPs data in drinking water. TW: Tap Water; BW: bottled water.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Validated analytical procedures and percentage of application in DW studies. RM: Raman Spectroscopy; SEM/EDS: Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy Dispersive X-ray spectrometry; FTIR: Fourier—Transform Infra-red spectroscopy; Py-GC-MS: Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry.
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