Microplastics Contamination in Nonalcoholic Beverages from the Italian Market

Abstract

A growing number of studies have confirmed that microplastics (MPs) contamination represents a worrisome issue of global concern. MPs have been detected in the atmosphere, in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as well as in the biota. Moreover, MPs have been recently detected in some food products and in drinking water. However, only limited information is currently available for beverages, although they are largely consumed by humans and might contribute to the ingestion of MPs. Thus, estimating the contamination in beverages represents a crucial step in assessing human MP ingestion. The aim of the present study was to explore the presence of MPs in nonalcoholic beverages, namely soft drinks and cold tea, of different brands purchased in supermarkets and to estimate the contribution of beverage consumption to MP ingestion by humans. The results of the present study confirmed the presence of MPs, mainly fibers, in most of the analyzed beverages, with a mean (± SEM) number of 9.19 ± 1.84 MPs/L. In detail, the number of MPs detected in soft drinks and cold tea was 9.94 ± 0.33 MPs/L and 7.11 ± 2.62 MPs/L, respectively. Our findings confirmed that beverage consumption can be considered one of the main pathways for MP ingestion by humans.

Keywords: beverages; human ingestion; microplastics; soft drinks.

Figure 1

Microscopy images of a filter with fibers isolated from a soft drink before (A) and after (B) labeling with PBN. Only the plastic fiber emitted electric blue fluorescence.

Figure 2

Mean concentration of MPs (±SEM) was measured in soft drink and cold tea samples (A) and in different groups of beverages (B). Three different brands of beverages per group were tested.