Plastic baby bottles release microplastics when heated. Do you need to worry? : Goat and SodaExBulletin

According to a new study, plastic baby bottles release microplastics into the liquid inside when heated or shaken.

Tim Clayton / Corbis via Getty Images

Hide captions

Switch captions

Tim Clayton / Corbis via Getty Images

According to a new study, plastic baby bottles release microplastics into the liquid inside when heated or shaken.

Tim Clayton / Corbis via Getty Images

Microplastics are small pieces of plastic that are often too small to be seen by the eye. They are made as the plastic deteriorates.

And they are everywhere.

Thanks to the plastic trash, they are in the ocean. They are in the fish. They invade the water we drink in a variety of ways, from surface runoffs and wastewater to particles deposited from the atmosphere.

It is also released in large quantities from plastic baby bottles when used to prepare infant formula according to standard guidelines. Journal new research Nature food locate.

The study suggests that baby bottle-fed infants around the world may consume an average of more than 1.5 million microplastic particles per day. But researchers warn parents shouldn’t be surprised by the findings.

This is because there is not yet sufficient evidence of the health risks posed by the intake of microplastics by infants and adults.For example, last year, the World Health Organization Release report He said there was not enough evidence to conclude that microplastics in drinking water pose a risk to human health, but that further research is needed to draw more conclusive conclusions.

“At this point, don’t be afraid,” said Philip Schwabble, a physician and researcher at the Medical University of Vienna. Microplastics found in human excrement.. “But that’s an open question and definitely not met. [research] necessary. ”

“The last thing we want to do is be overly alert to our parents,” he said. John Borland, Professor of Chemistry and Materials Sciences at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Nature food Investigation.

Borland and his co-authors say they have decided to consider microplastics released from plastic baby bottles due to the small number of products on the market. Around the world, polypropylene baby bottles make up about 82% of the market, and a few manufacturers dominate sales, he says. “This made it easier to get a comprehensive view of the market and actually see the global potential of this issue,” he says.

Researchers selected 10 plastic baby bottles, which account for about 70% of the global market, and measured the levels of microplastics released when used in the preparation of infant formula. To the set guidelines According to the World Health Organization. These guidelines require that infant formula be mixed with water heated to 158 degrees Fahrenheit or higher to reduce the bacterial load.

What they found was that the release of microplastics was very temperature sensitive, says Borland. “What’s happening is [plastic] Polymers and water, “explains Borland. “It’s like peeling the surface of the actual plastic itself.” Hot water exacerbates the peeling and also exacerbates the shaking of the bottle.

When researchers put room-temperature water in a plastic baby bottle and shake it for about 60 seconds, he says, “hundreds of thousands of microplastics are obtained” to simulate the preparation of normal infant formula. When they raised their temperature to 158 degrees Fahrenheit, the bottle released 1 to 16 million particles per liter. “We stopped counting them,” he says, as the bottles also released trillions of smaller nanoplastics (small plastics sized from 10 nanometers to 1 micron).

PET bottles continued to emit microplastic particles in a 21-day test.

Next, researchers used global sales data for plastic bottles and information on national breastfeeding rates to identify potential exposure of 12-month-old babies to microplastics worldwide. Estimated. Overall, they estimated that the average baby consumes more than 1.5 million microplastic particles per day.

However, those estimates varied significantly by region of the world. They estimate that babies in high-income regions of the world with low breastfeeding rates, such as North America and Europe, may consume well over 2 million microplastic particles per day. On the other hand, in China, where glass baby bottles are more popular, the average consumption of microplastics for babies is estimated to be “tens of thousands” of particles, says Borland.

They estimated that infants and Asia and Africa had the lowest potential exposure.

The health effects of microplastics are still unknown, but parents can significantly reduce infant exposure by adding some steps to their bottle preparation routines, says Borland. It is recommended that PET bottles be sterilized with hot water, cooled completely, boiled and sterilized, and then rinsed with water cooled to room temperature at least 3 times. (Researchers advise that you must boil in glass or stainless steel.)

When using powdered milk, prepare it in a glass container with water at 158 ​​degrees Fahrenheit, allow it to cool to room temperature, and then transfer it to a plastic baby bottle for feeding. Also, do not heat in the microwave, whether preparing infant formula or warming milk. This is because “a very superheated water pocket is created adjacent to the plastic, which can generate a large amount of microplastic”.

The level of microplastic detected by the new Nature food The studies are very high and they are consistent with the levels found by 2019 study We have found that the types of plastic tea bags commonly found in pyramidal bags can release billions of plastic particles when soaked in hot water. Commentary To Nature food About the discoveries from Borland and his colleagues. It also suggests that temperature is an important factor influencing the release of microplastics, Schwabl says.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have discovered that plastic tea kettles, plastic instant noodle cups, and plastic food storage containers all emit high levels of microplastics as they are exposed to heat. did. Schwabl points out that further research is needed on microplastics released from plastic food storage containers, especially when exposed to high temperatures.

So far, the evidence is very limited and unclear as to what these microplastics do in our bodies, says Schwabl.He notes a few things Research found Microplastics can cause rodent inflammation and accumulate in the intestines and other organs, but other studies have shown that they are “harmless.” “The thresholds at which they cause problems have not been determined for humans,” says Schwabl.

“We’re probably excreting most of the microplastics we ingest,” he says. David love, Associate Scientist at Johns Hopkins Center for a Liveable Future. One of the potential concerns, he says, is about the intake of much smaller nanoplastics. Once in the intestines, these very small plastic particles can “actually enter the bloodstream and from there they are transported throughout the body.” What is needed is more research on the potential health effects of chronic long-term exposure, Love says.

For now, Schwabl agrees that we shouldn’t panic.He avoids plastic containers in his daily life – “I’m not afraid to ingest, but I think it may contribute. [reducing] The amount of plastic waste that invades the environment. “

“What this and other studies are telling us is that regulators should ask this, they will investigate what these risks are, and for the industry about the appropriate levels of microplastics. Guidance needs to be developed. Dropping out of high-risk products like baby bottles. “