Microplastic tsunami looms ever larger, but Bluewater technology can mitigate risks

Stockholm, Sweden, November 5, 2018 – Microplastics are in table salt, the food we eat, the tap and bottled water we drink, in beer and now are being found in our poop, which means the tiny particles less than 5 millimeters in size have invaded our bodies.

“What we don’t know is what harm is being done to our health, now and into the future, as a result of ingesting plastics,” said Anders Jacobson, President of Bluewater, a world leader in water purification technologies and solutions.

Noting that Bluewater stepped in as official water supplier and sustainability partner to the 2017/2018 Volvo Ocean Race to showcase existing alternatives to the need for single-use plastic bottles, Mr. Jacobson said it is imperative that more research is implemented to better understand the longer-term health threats posed by microplastics.

“While there is little scientific data about the threat to planetary and human health of microplastics, the growing evidence is that chemicals in plastics can pose a threat to the hormones that help steer human reproduction, metabolism and growth,” Mr. Jacobson said.

Bluewater has taken a stand against single use plastic bottles, most of which end up in landfill or oceans as they are not being recycled. The company has developed the water purification technologies and delivery solutions that can provide an alternative to throwaway plastic bottles.

Founder and CEO Bengt Rittri launched Bluewater in 2013 because he believed everyone has the right to clean water. Today the company’s water purifiers can be found in homes, businesses and public hydration stations around the world removing microplastics, lead, chemicals and other contaminants from drinking water.

Anne-Cecile Turner, Sustainability Programme Leader for the Volvo Ocean Race, told Bluewater that scientific data amassed during the Race found that there is plastic absolutely everywhere. She added that ‘we all have a role to play to take action to reduce the amount of plastic that’s endangering our playground’.

Ms. Turner praised Bluewater for its efforts to develop solutions to halt the use of single use plastic bottles through onsite hydration stations that can deliver large quantities of drinking water on demand from almost any source, She said the relationship between Volvo Ocean Race and Bluewater, which resulted in almost 400,000 plastic bottles being avoided, heralded a whole new type of collaboration at sporting events where the onus has shifted from fighting to enhance the visibility of a corporate brand to also embrace mutually working to achieve a desired sustainability impact.

“At Bluewater we believe Volvo Ocean Race has set a whole new agenda for how and why companies sponsor sporting events with a focus on human and planetary health ranking as high as brand or product exposure,” Anders Jacobson said.

Background

- The Volvo Ocean Race implemented a ground-breaking scientific program that found microplastics all around the world, The microplastic samples were analysed by members of the Volvo Ocean Race scientific consortium in Kiel, Germany.Dr. Toste Tanhua of GEOMAR Institute for Ocean Research Kiel, funded by the Cluster of Excellence Future Ocean, who carried out the Race analysis said: “Unfortunately, almost all the samples [collected] contained microplastics, meaning that the plastics are carried with ocean currents to the most remote parts of the world’s oceans.”

- Bluewater high-performance water purifiers are powered by the company’s patented water purification system SuperiorOsmosis™, which delivers a unique engineering solution to increase filtration efficiency, boost operating capacity and deliver a long service life. Bluewater purifiers remove contaminants such as toxic metals, chemicals, viruses and micro-organic substances down to 0.0001 microns (a human red blood cell is about 5 microns across, while the eye of a needle is 1,230 microns).

For more information please contact:

David Noble, Bluewater Global PR and Communications Director, at david.noble@bluewatergroup.com or on +44 7785 302 694.