(NewsNation) — With microplastics becoming more of a concern, scientists have found a way to get rid of the tiny plastics that have been found in our food and drinks by boiling it.
Researchers at China’s Guangzhou Medical and Jinan universities took both soft water and hard tap water and spiked it with three common plastics: polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene. When at a rolling boil, the researchers discovered that naturally occurring minerals like calcium carbonate began forming solid crystals around the plastic particles before it settled at the bottom of the water.
They then allowed the water to cool before separating the mineral and plastic deposits from it.
According to their findings, boiling and filtering out those crystals can remove up to 90% of nano and microplastics present in water, and for soft water, it removed 25% of NMPs. They noted, however, that water needed to have a high mineral content, which is defined as “hard water,” for the boiling to have an effect.
“This simple boiling-water strategy can ‘decontaminate’ NMPs from household tap water and has the potential for harmlessly alleviating human intake of NMPs through water consumption,” the authors of the study wrote.
For those concerned about other exposure to microplastics, experts suggest swapping out plastic cutting boards for wooden ones and limiting the use of plastic eating utensils.
