Report: Precence of microplastics in Norwegian drinking water are close to zero

Norwegian Water has conducted a study of microplastic in Norwegian drinking water. 72 triplicate samples from 24 waterworks in Norway and 72 blanks were analyzed for microplastic particles. The results show that the presence of microplastic in the water samples were zero or near zero.

The final report, «Mapping Microplastic in Norwegian Drinking Water», was made available earlier this autumn in Vannbokhandelen. Now, it is also available on ResearchGate.

Abstract:

In the course of the project, 72 triplicate samples from 24 waterworks in Norway and 72 blanks were analysed for microplastic particles. From the findings in this study, it is concluded that concentrations of less than 4.1 microplastic particles per litre should not be given or used for comparison. Whenever analysis is done to elucidate a possible contamination of water, special care must be taken in the sampling and in the conductance of the analysis. Furthermore, the limits of detection and of quantitation must be taken into account in the design of the experiment, the sampling, and in the decision about the number and volume of samples to be analysed.

In the current study, no microplastic particles could be detected or quantified in the drinking water of the 24 water works who participated. They had been selected since their drinking water sources were anticipated to have the highest probability for all Norwegian water works to be polluted with microplastic particles.

Conclusively, it is very likely that microplastic particles cannot be detected in any drinking water in Norway. There is the small possibility that the drinking water in Norway contains microplastic particles at extremely low concentrations below the detection limit. However, these low concentrations do not provide a health risk.

The Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) has carried out the analyzes and the scientific work, and the study has been carried out in cooperation with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and the Norwegian Environment Agency. Authors were Wolfgang Uhl and Mona Eftekhardadkhah from NIVA, and Camilla Svendsen (Norwegian Institute of Public Health).