By Shannon Osaka, Washington Post
At this point, most people know that microplastics are everywhere. Scientists have shown that tiny particles, amounting to the weight of a plastic spoon, can be found in our brains; hundreds of fragments of plastic are in each breath we take.
But the exact origins of those tiny pieces of plastic have been unclear. Are they coming from plastics discarded in landfills and decomposing over dozens of years? Or are they spilling out of the plastic water bottles and containers we seal our food in? The answer matters — for individuals hoping to avoid the particles and politicians who may want to restrict the microplastics we eat, drink and breathe.
Scientists are finding answers — but not always the ones that they expected. New research shows that microplastics are shedding from reusable plastic containers and food packaging, but the particles can also come from glass bottles with painted caps, as well as highly processed foods packaged in any material.
“We have not really understood all the factors that can lead to the release of micro and nanoplastics,” said Lisa Zimmerman, a plastics researcher and scientific communication officer at the Food Packaging Forum, a Swiss nonprofit.
In a study published last month, French researchers analyzed dozens of samples of water, tea, sodas, beer and wine in various containers — glass bottles, plastic bottles and metal cans. They expected to find the most microplastic particles in beverages housed in plastic.
Instead, the researchers found that — across all the beverages they tested — the highest number of particles were found in glass bottles. In glass containers, they found about 100 microplastic particles per liter of beverage, or five to 50 times more than in plastic bottles or cans.
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