New Study: Boiling Tap Water May be Solution to Microplastics

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, concerned about plastic pollution in your tap water? A new study proposes boiling it as a solution.

Boiling tap water could potentially eliminate over 80% of three common plastic compounds found in water, as revealed in a study published in Environmental Research Letters on Wednesday.

This finding implies that drinking boiled tap water, a practice already common in East Asian households, might be a safer alternative to consuming bottled water. Recent research by Columbia University found that bottled water can contain up to a quarter-million nanoplastics per liter.

The study investigated the effects of boiling on three plastic compounds commonly found in water: polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene.

Since these compounds do not fully degrade, they fragment into nanoplastics, roughly the size of a virus. These particles can interfere with human cell machinery and penetrate protective barriers like the intestinal lining and blood-brain barrier.

Among the tested compounds, polystyrene raises the most concern, as it can cause intestinal inflammation and potentially damage red blood cells. While the safety of the other compounds is generally accepted, some experts argue that the methods used to assess plastic safety are flawed.

During the study, scientists introduced the plastic compounds into “hard water,” a prevalent type of freshwater in the U.S. containing high levels of calcium carbonate and magnesium.

When the plastic-infused water was boiled, the calcium carbonates formed small clusters around most of the microscopic plastics, trapping them and rendering them harmless.

While the boiling-water method shows promise, there are significant limitations. The study only examined three common plastic polymers and did not assess additives like BPA, PFAS, and phthalates commonly found in plastics. Additionally, boiling did not remove all polymer particles.

Moreover, there are concerns about the potential long-term effects of exposure to plastic pollution, especially additives that may leach into the water. Lastly, this method requires hard water or the addition of calcium carbonate, which may not be available everywhere.

Despite these caveats, the study suggests boiling tap water could be a practical approach to mitigating some forms of plastic pollution, especially when compared to the presence of microplastics in bottled water discovered in previous research.