Named the unexpected danger of glass bottles

The French Food Safety Agency (ANSES) has found that water, soda, beer, and wine bottled in glass containers contain five to fifty times more microplastics than the same beverages in plastic bottles or tin cans. This was reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

ANSES Research Director Guillaume Duflo said that scientists studied popular beverages sold in France. Their goal was to determine how packaging type affects microplastic levels. It was discovered that on average, a liter of beverage from a glass bottle contains about 100 microplastic particles.

"We expected the opposite," admitted PhD student Iselin Chaib, who conducted the research. According to her, it turned out that the microplastic particles match the shape, color, and composition of the paint on the outside of glass bottle caps. Likely, during storage, the caps touch and rub against each other, creating imperceptible scratches through which microparticles are released.

Meanwhile, the level of microplastics in drinking water was relatively low in all types of containers - from 4.5 particles per liter in glass bottles to 1.6 in plastic ones. Wine also showed minimal values, even in glass. The reasons for this peculiarity are not yet clear.

For beverages such as soda and beer, the level was higher: from 30 to 60 particles per liter. Despite this, according to ANSES, it is currently impossible to say whether such values pose a threat to human health - the toxicity threshold for microplastics has not been established.

Nevertheless, the agency suggests that manufacturers improve cap cleaning methods: air blowing followed by rinsing with water and alcohol can reduce contamination by 60%.