Billions are drinking contaminated water: Majority of tap water or bottled mineral water contains plastic particles
Berlin-based company Mitte has a solution underway
Berlin, February 21, 2008A recent study published by Orb media revealed that 83 percent of tap water samples collected around the globe contained plastic fibres. The highest rate was found in the US with 94% at sites including Congress buildings, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s headquarters and Trump Tower in New York . European nations including the UK, Germany and France were not spared either. They had the lowest contamination rate but with still 72 percent of the samples polluted with microplastics.
Another study conducted by the Institute of Food Chemistry at Wilhelms University Muenster, Germany, which tested mineral water in 22 plastic bottles, 9 glass bottles and 3 beverage cartons, found microplastic fragments in every water sample. Nearly 80 percent of the particles had a size between 5 and 20μm, which had not been detected by former methods.
What is alarming is that tap or bottled mineral water are not the only sources for plastics to enter our food chain. Scientists at Ghent University in Belgium recently calculated that shellfish lovers are eating up to 11,000 plastic fragments in their seafood each year. Contaminated fish and shellfish have been found everywhere from Europe, Canada and Brazil to the coast of mainland China – and plastic-eating fish are now showing up in supermarkets. One third of the fish caught in the UK contains microplastics.
Drinking either tap water or mineral water therefore can be hazardous:
Microplastics may attract bacteria and are known to contain and absorb toxic chemicals which are then released in a body.
Currently, little is known about the effects of microplastics on humans. Corresponding long-term studies on the consequences of accumulating microplastics in the body have yet been done. One thing is for sure: The phenomena is undesirable. The smaller the particles, the greater the risk of it accumulating and penetrating body tissues on a daily basis, leading to unwanted effects in the long term.
Mitte presents a solution providing pure and healthy water
Mitte, a Berlin-based German startup has developed a solution to this problem. Their patented technology distills tap water by removing all contamination, including microplastics, hormones, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, and more. The resulting pure water is then enhanced with essential minerals to make it healthy for daily drinking. The Mitte machine was first launched on Kickstarter in October 2017, raising 362% of its funding goal on the platform. Mitte is now available for pre-orders on Indiegogo. The team is in the midst of setting up manufacturing and assembling processes and will commence to ship the machine by the end of the year.