People drink boiling water for cultural, historical and medical reasons (activists)

Drinking water after boiling is an ancient tradition in some Asian cultures, due to its health benefits for humans. Boiling can remove some chemicals and most biological substances present in the water. A new study confirms the importance of boiling tap water to get rid of microplastics that have leaked into it.

The new study, published on February 28 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters, concluded that boiling tap water before drinking it for 5 minutes can remove 90% of potentially harmful plastic particles, making it one of the easiest ways to consume clean water at home. .

Researchers say that the presence of nano/microplastic materials leaking from central water treatment systems is of increasing global concern, because they pose potential health risks to humans through drinking water.

The researchers studied the effectiveness of the boiling process in removing polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene from tap water. The research found that boiling water can contribute to removing at least 90% of these materials, whose sizes range between 0.1 and 150 micrometers.

High temperatures “cleanse” tap water in the home from microplastics, and contribute to reducing human consumption of microplastics in a harmless way through water consumption.

The culture of drinking boiled water

Historically, people drank boiled water for cultural and medical reasons, and avoided drinking cold water because they believed it affected the balance of internal organs and vital energy. Therefore, we find that it is common in Chinese restaurants to see two teapots, one containing Chinese tea and the other containing hot water.

According to Chinese medicine, drinking boiled water is an effective treatment for many diseases. When someone suffers from bloating, it is recommended to drink hot water. It is also encouraged to drink hot water when blood circulation is weak, and also when suffering from a cold.

Boiling tap water before drinking it for 5 minutes can remove 90% of harmful plastic particles (Unsplash).

What are microplastics?

Microplastics are small pieces of plastic less than five millimeters long, and can be harmful to the marine environment. As an emerging field of study, its environmental impact is still not fully explored.

Plastic debris can come in all shapes and sizes, but those that are less than five millimeters long or about the size of a pencil eraser; They are called "microplastics".

Microplastics come from a variety of sources, including larger plastic debris that breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, as well as microbeads, which are very small pieces of manufactured polyethylene plastic that are added to health and beauty products such as some detergents and toothpastes. .

These small particles easily seep through water filtration systems and end up in the oceans and major lakes, potentially posing a potential threat to aquatic life.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, these decomposing remains of industrial waste and consumer goods are impossible to avoid, as they spread into the oceans, the atmosphere, inside bottled water, and even in human feces.

The World Health Organization states that studies on the impact of microplastics on human health are still limited and inconclusive, as it is believed that some plastics are harmless, while other studies confirm that others, such as polystyrene, kill human cells, cause intestinal inflammation, and reduce fertility in mice.

Home methods for removing plastic

In the new study, scientists investigated practical home methods for removing microplastics from drinking water, and among the questions they sought to answer in particular was whether water can rid us of microplastic pollution.

The researchers prepared tap water samples that contained several common minerals along with three common microplastic compounds: polystyrene, polyethylene, and polypropylene.

After boiling the samples for 5 minutes and leaving them to cool, the researchers noticed a sharp decrease in the amount of microplastics. They observed a decrease of approximately 90% in microplastics, because calcium carbonate in water becomes solid at higher temperatures, which leads to the plastic particles being trapped inside.

Researchers say that using this method, along with a simple coffee filter to remove hardened calcium, could be an easy way to remove particles that may be harmful to health.

Source: Al Jazeera + websites