ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – A recent study published by a research team based in China revealed that boiling and filtering tap water can significantly diminish the presence of plastic particles within it. Researchers from Guangzhou Medical University and Jinan University investigated the impact of boiling water rich in minerals, aiming to assess its potential in lowering human exposure to nano/microplastics (NMPs).
The researchers took multiple samples of tap water from the Guangzhou region, contaminated with varying levels of NMPs, which were then boiled for five minutes and cooled for 10.
They found that boiling hard water – water richer in dissolved calcium and magnesium – yields calcium carbonate, which ensnares polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene NMPs. The chalky residue that trapped the tiny plastic particles was then removed from the water by pouring the water through a standard coffee filter.
For water samples containing around 180 milligrammes (mg) per litre of calcium carbonate, boiling and filtering it removed 84 per cent of the NMPs.
The figure rose to 90 per cent for harder water samples containing around 300mg per litre of the mineral.
Even in softer water samples containing less than 60mg per litre of calcium carbonate, boiling and filtering removed 25 per cent of the nano and microplastics.
