When you think about tap water, the most common concerns are things like lead, fluoride, or other chemical pollutants. Most people don’t realize that they are usually also taking a big gulp of plastic. A recent, 10 month investigation of tap water from Orb media has turned up the disturbing fact that, on average, 80% of our tap water is polluted with microscopic plastic fibers. Sample locations were as varied as the US capitol building and Uganda’s Lake Victoria.
the culprit here goes by the name of microplastics, they are made up of everything from broken down litter, to the fibers that come off plastic based clothing (there’s a lot more than you’d think) in the washing machines, and the remnants of all those microbeads that you think help exfoliate your skin.
Now, here’s the scary part. out of samples taken from the United States, Europe, Indonesia, India, Lebanon, Uganda, and Ecuador. the US came in as the the worst victim of the plastic pollution, with nearly 94% of the water having microplastics in it. Sure, Europe may have come in last, but I’m not sure only having plastic in 72% of your water supply is something to write home about.
So, what’s the solution? There really isn’t much we can do about what’s already done, but development of better production materials in the future is the only way to prevent the problem from getting worse.