78% of bottled waters analysed contaminated by microplastics, finds study

The best-selling bottled waters in France have been found to have the presence of microplastics, an Acting for the Environment analysis report has found.

Badoit, Carrefour, Cristaline, Evian (50 cl and 1 litre), Perrier, Vittel (33 cl and 1 liter), Volvic were seven out of nine waters analysed, that contain microplastics

As part of this study, Agir pour l’Environnement commissioned the Labocéa laboratory, which specialises in this type of analysis.

Applying a particularly careful protocol, Labocéa identified between 1 and 121 plastic microparticles per litre. In total, the laboratory has identified four different types of plastics. It seems that most of these microplastics come from the bottle, the cork and the bottling process, which when subjected to strong heat and light, the water bottles  release even greater quantities of microplastics, said the study.

Vittel Kids holds the record for the number of microplastics in these analyses with 40 particles for the 33 cl bottle (thus 121 particles per litre). With an average of 131 litres of bottled water consumed per year, a child is therefore likely to ingest, for this simple use, nearly 16,000 plastic microparticles each year.

These results also confirm the conclusions of several scientific studies on the subject and of a report by the World Health Organization which already recognised in 2019 the importance of water contamination by microplastics, according to the organisation.

Agir pour l’Environnement said it is “unacceptable” to let bottled water manufacturers sell water “polluted with microplastics”, presented as supposedly “pure” and in addition “300 are more expensive than tap water”.

“The state must protect our health and the environment, in priority that of children, by ensuring that the food chain is not polluted with microplastics,” Agir pour l’Environnement added in a statement. “We must get out of disposable plastic as soon as possible, starting by banning plastic bottles”.