How to remove microplastics from water

How to Remove Microplastics from Drinking Water?

Author: Allen Huang 2024-07-02

What Are Microplastics?
What Are The Sources Of Microplastics?

Migration And Distribution Of Microplastics
How Many Microplastics Do You Consume Daily?

What Is The Harmful Effects Of Microplastics?

How To Remove Microplastic From Tap Water?

Microplastics refer to plastic particles with a diameter of less than 5 mm. Microplastics are a rapidly growing new type of pollutant.

We usually classify plastic waste into the following types according to size:

Macroplastics: particles larger than 25 mm can be seen by the naked eye without a microscope.

Mesoplastic: particles between 5-25 mm are called mesoplastics.

Microplastics: particles smaller than 5 mm, even invisible to the naked eye. There are even nanoplastics, which are smaller than microplastics, only less than 1 μm in length.

The sources of microplastics in the environment are relatively complex, and there are various sources of microplastics, which are mainly divided into primary and secondary sources.

The sources of primary microplastics mainly include industrial raw materials of plastic/resin particles, industrial products containing microplastic particles or cleaning microbeads, such as medicines, polishing materials, personal care products (cosmetics, facial cleansers, toothpastes and shower gels), etc.

Secondary microplastics mainly refer to the tiny plastic fragments formed by the physical (wear, water disturbance, wave impact, wind), chemical (ultraviolet radiation, freeze-thaw cycle) and biological degradation processes of plastics entering the water body, breaking, decomposing or reducing in volume, which are called secondary microplastics.
 

Microplastics can migrate between different environmental media, and wind and surface runoff can transfer microplastics from land to water environments. Microplastics in the atmosphere can enter water bodies and land environments through rain or sedimentation, and how microplastics migrate to the atmosphere is still under research. Some microplastics in the terrestrial environment will also enter deep soil under the action of gravity and biological activities, and these microplastics may also migrate to freshwater systems through underground runoff. Freshwater environments are considered to be the link between the migration of microplastics between land and marine environments. About 80% of microplastics on land enter the marine environment through rivers.

In recent years, research on the occurrence and distribution of microplastics has mainly focused on the marine environment. Compared with the marine environment, the freshwater environment is more susceptible to human activities. The population density, urbanization level, economic industrial structure and garbage disposal status of the surrounding area are important factors affecting the pollution of microplastics. Many current studies have pointed out that microplastics are also widely present in the terrestrial environment, but the extraction and separation of microplastics in the soil is difficult, and research on the distribution characteristics of microplastics in the terrestrial environment is still very lacking.

In addition to the ocean, microplastics have appeared in tap water, bottled water, beer, honey and salt. From Mount Everest to the deep sea, microplastics are everywhere, and all ocean samples collected worldwide (including the Arctic) have microplastics. Studies estimate that there are more than 14 million tons of microplastics on the seafloor.

According to research, humans swallow about 106 to 142 microplastics every day from various dietary sources, including salt, bottled water, beer, seafood, etc., and may inhale 97 to 170 microplastics every day through breathing air. However, the amount of microplastics that enter the human body varies depending on region, lifestyle, age and gender. It is currently estimated that the average person ingests 0.1 to 5 grams of microplastics per week, and every 10 grams of excrement contains 20 microplastics.

Wandering microplastics such as mussels and zooplankton are easily eaten by low-end food chain organisms. Microplastics cannot be digested and can only exist in the stomach, occupying space and causing animals to become sick or even die. If microplastics with organic pollutants are eaten, the harm to these plankton is even worse. The pollutants are released by enzymes in the organisms, exacerbating their condition.

Mussels, zooplankton, and other organisms at the bottom of the food chain will be eaten by upper animals, and microplastics and even organic pollutants will enter the upper animals. One feature of the food chain is the "enrichment" effect. Perhaps there are only 1% of harmful substances in the bottom animals, but it becomes 20% in the upper layers, which will cause a large number of organisms that eat microplastics to become sick or die.

The top organisms in the food chain are humans. Under the action of enrichment, humans will accumulate a large amount of microplastics in their bodies. These small particles that are difficult to digest will cause unpredictable harm to humans.

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in the United States showed that among more than 200 surgical patients, nearly 60% had micro- and nano-sized microplastic particles in their main arteries. About 34 months after surgery, people with microplastics in their arteries were 4.5 times more likely to have heart disease, stroke or death than those without microplastics.

A research team composed of the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna in Austria found that micro- and nano-sized plastics stay in intestinal cells much longer than previously estimated because they are passed to newly formed human cells during human cell division, which causes the spread of microplastics between human tissues and organs.

The researchers observed that microplastic particles smaller than 1 micron (nano-sized) are associated with the migration of colorectal cancer cells. Nano-sized microplastics appear 10 to 100 times more frequently in the intestine than in water bottles, and the smaller the microplastic particles, the greater the harm.

The results show that microplastics, especially micro- and nano-sized plastics, can exist in cells for a long time without being removed, have a high absorption rate in tissues and cells, and may promote the metastasis of cancer cells, thereby worsening the condition of cancer patients.
 

Although drinking water can cause us to ingest microplastics, people cannot live without water.

Research shows that there are still some ways in life that can effectively help reduce the intake of microplastics.

1. Boil water before drinking, reduce microplastics by 80%

After the water is boiled, the calcium and magnesium ions in tap water will form scale and settle to the bottom of the water. During the scale formation process, the calcium and magnesium ions will pull the microplastics down and "lay flat" together.

Therefore, the microplastic content in boiled tap water will be greatly reduced.

But remember: do not pour boiled water into plastic containers.

2. Use less plastic containers, paper cups, and take-out coffee cups

Paper cups are indeed made of paper, but in order to hold water without leaking, the lining is a plastic film!

Especially after filling with hot water, hot coffee, and hot tea, microplastics will be released crazily.

The higher the water temperature, the more microplastic particles will be released.

3. Install a water purification system

How To Filter Microplastics From Drinking Water? The water purifier uses different filters to filter out various impurities in tap water, such as lead, fluoride, disinfectants, and microplastics, to improve the quality of tap water.

At present, there are mainly the following types of water purifier filters that can filter and purify microplastics:

(1). Activated carbon filter

Activated carbon filters use carbon materials to adsorb organic matter in water through activated carbon, thereby filtering and purifying drinking water. Activated carbon also has a strong adsorption and filtration effect on microplastics in water, but it cannot filter out all of them.

(2). Reverse osmosis water purifier
The reverse osmosis water purifier squeezes water molecules through the filter membrane under high pressure, removes impurities and microplastics in the water, and obtains pure drinking water. The reverse osmosis water purifier can filter out most of the microplastics and upgrade the water quality.

(3). Ultrafiltration water purifier
The ultrafiltration water purifier uses a series of filter membranes to filter out impurities and microplastics in the water and upgrade the water quality.

The under-counter water purification equipment produced by Xiamen Smart Water Technology has obtained multiple EU and US certifications. It is made of lead-free materials and can filter various pollutants, including microplastics, to ensure the safety of users and filtered water.