Abstract
Microplastics as a potential health and environmental problem has gained increasing attention recently. Microplastics are defined as plastic pieces smaller than 5 mm in diameter, and there are many sources of such microplastics [17]. Current literature reports that microplastics are ubiquitous worldwide. While several authors report on fragments of different polymers being observed, practically in all environmental areas of marine [3, 5, 12,13,14, 16, 19], freshwater [1, 20] and terrestrial ecosystems [2, 4, 6,7,8,9]; others point out that the accumulation of micro and nanometer-sized plastic particles throughout the marine and terrestrial food webs, is posing a risk to marine and terrestrial life, and ultimately to human health [18]. Despite studies pointing out the occurrence of micro plastics in freshwater systems including surface and groundwater basins, very little is known about the occurrence of microplastics in drinking water and their implications on human health. According to WHO, men should consume 3 L and women should consume 2.2 L of beverage per day. Most of these beverages consist of tap water, or drinks derived from tap water. The risk of plastic uptake from drinking water is currently unpredictable and furthermore, these plastic particles add to the plastic potentially consumed in other sources, such as sea salt, beer, food and seafood. Recent publication indicates that drinking water, uptake through seafood, and airborne exposure are the main sources of microplastics in humans [15].
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Acknowledgement
We would like to thank Nordurorka Ltd.-Utility Company and drinking water supplier for Akureyri for supporting this research, especially Helgi Jóhannesson Director for goodwill and financial support, Hrönn Brynjarsdóttir Quality Manager for all her assistance, Baldur Viðar Jónsson and Árni Árnason for helping with the sampling.
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Ásmundsdóttir, Á.M., Gomiero, A., Øysæd, K.B. (2020). Microplastics and Nanoplastics Occurrence and Composition in Drinking Water from Akureyri Urban Area, Iceland. In: Cocca, M., et al. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Microplastic Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. ICMPMS 2019. Springer Water. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45909-3_18
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