One million single use plastic bottles are produced every 60 seconds, many destined to end up in the oceans, then the fish as microplastics, and finally us humans (Credit iStock_Talyaon)

News that microplastics have now been discovered in humans across the globe ‘deeply disturbing’, says Bluewater

Stockholm, Sweden, October 23, 2018 – Bluewater, a world leader in water purification technology and solutions, says a new global study providing the first real evidence that microplastics are now inside humans raises grave concerns about the health implication.

The study was carried out by researchers from the Medical University of Vienna and the Environment Agency Austria, who monitored a group of participants from countries including Finland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, the UK and Austria.

“It’s no secret that microplastics have entered both the human food and water chains. But their detection now in human beings around the world is deeply concerning and demands urgent research to understand the human health implications,” said Anders Jacobson, President of Bluewater. He noted that everyone who was monitored by the study research team had produced stool samples testing positive for the presence of microplastics.

The Austrian Environment Agency used a new analytical procedure to test the stools for ten types of plastic. They discovered up to nine different sized up to 500 micrometers with the most common being polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

Believing human ingenuity can be harnessed to develop technology and solutions to tackle plastics pollution, Bluewater has put providing access to pure drinking water to everyone to help stop the need for single-use plastic bottles at the core of its business strategy. Over one million plastic bottles are produced every 60 seconds, many ending up in the oceans as waste that breaks down into microplastics then consumed by sea animals.

Bluewater patented second-generation reverse osmosis technology called SuperiorOsmosis™ removes a whole spectrum of waterborne contaminants, including microplastics. Bluewater Pro water purifiers were used at every stop-over of the recent Volvo Ocean Race to help ensure pure drinking water without microplastics was served to visitors, which meant almost 400,000 plastic bottles were avoided.

“Plastics touch humans every day in multiple ways but we haven’t a clue what the long-term health consequences will be from consuming microplastics that will enter our bloodstream, lymphatic system and liver. We owe it to future generations to find out what that exposure means,” said Anders Jacobson.

For more information, please contact:

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