Boiling tap water is good for more than just killing certain harmful pathogens. It can also destroy contaminants such as microplastics and chemicals, making drinking water safer to drink.
Harder Water Captures More Microplastics
Water of a certain alkalinity and hardness typically produces incrustants—insoluble mineral remnants such as calcium carbonate—upon boiling. For the study, the researchers hypothesized that calcium carbonate encounters nanoplastics as it crystallizes in hot water. The calcium carbonate then encapsulates the nanoplastics as it becomes the flaky crust that you sometimes see at the bottom of your tea kettle.The Problem With Millions of Tons of Plastic
Because of our heavy reliance on plastic, nanoplastics and microplastics are common in groundwater and surface water around the globe. Microplastics are truly everywhere, having been detected as far south as Antarctica and as far north as the Arctic. These insidious particles have even been detected at the peak of Mount Everest and down in the Marianas Trench. In fact, plastic makes up the largest portion of marine garbage; according to a 2020 study published in Science of the Total Environment, more than 8 million tons of plastic entered the ocean in 2017. That number represented more than 33 times more plastic than the amount that had entered the ocean in 2015, indicating a disturbingly worsening problem.The health effects of nano- and microplastics haven’t been fully realized. Still, research has suggested that their accumulation in the human body can cause insulin resistance, liver metabolic disorder, DNA damage, organ dysfunction, immune response issues, neurotoxicity, and reproductive harm.
While the research team focused on only three types of nanoparticles, the discovery is a boon for public health. The team estimated that people who boil their water take in two to five times less nanoplastic than those who do not.
“Drinking boiled water apparently is a viable long-term strategy for reducing global exposure to [nano- and microplastics],” the research team wrote, noting that it is likely more effective than drinking bottled water, especially water bottled in plastic. The average liter-sized bottle of water contains 240,000 pieces of nanoplastic, which is 10 to 100 times more particles than previously thought.