Coffee Cups Shed Trillions Of Microplastic Into Boiling Water

A new study has shown that coffee cups lined with a plastic film on the inside can release trillions of particles into boiling water, Nick Lavars reported recently for New Atlas.

Photo Insert: The team's analysis revealed trillions of particles in the water sampled, with an average size between 30 and 80 nanometers, and a handful over 200 nanometers.

Getting a handle on the true dangers posed by the widespread problem of plastic pollution involves understanding the different ways it moves through the environment, including its migration into the human body.

A new study has explored the ways everyday plastic products can facilitate this process, including single-use coffee cups, which were shown to release trillions of microscopic particles when exposed to hot water. The research was published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

For this new study, researchers at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) examined the way tiny plastic particles can be released from common plastic products, including food-grade nylon – the type used as baking liner – and single-use beverage cups lined with low-density polyethylene (LDPE) film. The cups were exposed to boiling water for 20 minutes.

To count the tiny plastics in the liquid, the scientists turned to a technique used to detect tiny particles in the atmosphere, in which the water was sprayed out into a fine mist and then dried.

This left behind plastic particles just nanometers in size, which were then exposed to a hot alcoholic vapor that caused them to swell in size, making it much easier to tally them up and examine their chemical composition.

The team's analysis revealed trillions of particles in the water sampled, with an average size between 30 and 80 nanometers, and a handful over 200 nanometers. In parallel experiments on the food-grade nylon, the amount of plastic particles released into the water was actually seven times higher.

“The main takeaway here is that there are plastic particles wherever we look," said NIST chemist Christopher Zangmeister.

"There are a lot of them. Trillions per liter. We don’t know if those have bad health effects on people or animals. We just have a high confidence that they’re there."

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