Report of Microplastic Presence in Drinking Water

Recent studies have shown the presence of microplastics in freshwater reservoirs, commercially available bottled drinking water and in most common drinking water sources, such as tap water from various locations. Microplastics have received more attention because of their potential in carrying pathogenic organisms, heavy metals, and new contaminants, such as phthalate esters, into organisms, possibly impacting the environment and finally human health. The unavailability of effective and targeted water treatment technology to remove microplastics leads to their unintentional consumption by humans, resulting in a variety of health issues. Limited information on microplastic pollution in drinking water is available, as different studies have used various analytical techniques for detecting and extracting microplastics from water samples collected without the standard operating procedure. Therefore, reported studies showed huge variations while determining the microplastic concentration, resulting in difficulty in concluding the exact microplastic content in both tap and bottled water. Microplastics are one of the classes of emerging new contaminants; and very few global-level regulatory attempts have been made for the reduction of microplastic production and usage in various commercial products. However, research on microplastics is in naive phase, and more research is needed for adverse effect on human health. The present chapter focuses on some aspects of microplastics in drinking water, including its genesis, fate of distribution in environment, human exposure, and effect on human health. The development of efficient microplastic removal technologies is a global concern for achieving the Sustainable Development Program goal 6 of clean drinking water to all human beings.