Boiling tap water 'can get rid of nearly all of harmful substance'

28 February 2024 , 13:00

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New research says that boiling water can help (Image: Getty Images)

Simply boiling your tap water can get rid of nearly all of the microplastics in it, a new study has claimed

Microplastic particles from numerous sources are ingested and absorbed into the bloodstream and can cause metabolic disorders such as diabetes. They can also disrupt immune responses and damage the nervous system as well as reproductive and developmental systems.

But researchers found that simply boiling and filtering tap water could reduce nearly 90 per cent of nano- and microplastics (NMPs) present. The study revealed that as the water temperature rises on boiling hard water, which is rich in minerals, a chalky substance known as limescale or calcium carbonate forms a crust, known as incrustant, that encases the plastic particles.

Professor Eddy Zeng of Environmental Pollution and Health from Jinan University, Guangzhou, China, said: "Over time, these incrustants would build up like typical limescale, at which point they could be scrubbed away to remove the NMPs. I suggest any remaining incrustants floating in the water could be removed by pouring it through a simple filter such as a coffee filter."

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The research was published in the journal, ACS' Environmental Science & Technology Letters. The researchers collected samples of hard tap water from Guangzhou and spiked them with different amounts of NMPs. Samples were boiled for five minutes and allowed to cool. Then, the team measured the free-floating plastic content.

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The results showed that in harder water of 300 milligrams of limescale per litre, up to 90 percent of free floating MNP were removed after boiling. In soft water samples of less than 60 milligrams per litre found that around 25 per cent of NMPs were removed. The particles could be as small as one thousandth of a millimetre in diameter or as large as five millimetres.

Current studies suggest that ingesting these particles could affect the health of your gut. Some filtration systems capture NMPs, but inexpensive methods are needed to substantially help reduce human plastic consumption. In some Asian countries, drinking boiled water is an ancient tradition and is supposedly beneficial for human health, as boiling can remove some chemicals and most biological substances. The researchers say that this work could provide a simple, yet effective method to reduce NMP consumption.

Rom Preston-Ellis