Caps of Glass Bottles Contaminate Beverages With Microplastics 24
Microplastics are present in all beverages, but those packaged in glass bottles contain more microplastic particles than those in plastic bottles, cartons or cans. This was the surprising finding of a study conducted by the Boulogne-sur-Mer unit of the ANSES Laboratory for Food Safety. The scientists hypothesised that these plastic particles could come from the paint used on bottle caps. Water and wine are less affected than other beverages. These findings have highlighted a source of microplastics in drinks that manufacturers can easily take measures to address.
Damn ... can we get Mexican Coca Cola with cork? (Score:2)
Bring back those horrible metal caps. (Score:3)
For serious, the easy solution is right there, go back to metal caps on all glass bottles. Twist off caps are still available on quite a bit, but even just going back and using a bottle opener would be fine.
For those of you not old enough to remember, even plastic bottles had metal caps with a rubber sealer up until the late 90's. The most likely reason these were discontinued was due to recycling since it would contaminate the recycling if the caps were left on. That said the metal caps were also a lot more dangerous to handle since the "tamper seal" was less obvious and could cut your hands.
But I'll point out the obvious. Both plastic bottles and "cans" have plastic liners, so the argument about recycling doesn't hold weight. I would much prefer that the entire beverage industry move back to refillable glass bottles for everything, and just improve the glass so that it doesn't shatter when dropped. Microplastics problem solved. Cost? shipping cost goes up significantly (cause bottlers used to be in every city, now there is like one central bottler in a state/province that everything get's trucked out of.) They would have to go back to doing that to save costs.
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Congratulations, you get my first Dunning-Kruger award of the day. It's like you didn't even read the article. The contamination comes from how they handle the caps.
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The metal caps the article is talking about are the twist off caps with plastic paint, which is exactly the same stuff on cans. That is contamination from how the caps were stored is is what is causing the she shedding of microplastics IN THE PAINT. Those caps in the 90's were often just straight aluminum with no paint. These ones:
https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/lgl13o/soda_bottles_with_the_hard_plastic_bottoms_and/
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For serious, the easy solution is right there, go back to metal caps on all glass bottles. Twist off caps are still available on quite a bit, but even just going back and using a bottle opener would be fine.
It sounds like you're talking about the very caps (i.e. beer bottle caps) that the article says are the problem? Maybe you can link a pic of the caps you're talking about.
The metal caps are plastic lined (Score:3)
For serious, the easy solution is right there, go back to metal caps on all glass bottles. Twist off caps are still available on quite a bit, but even just going back and using a bottle opener would be fine.
The plastic is coming from the metal caps you are asking for. The interior of the metal caps are plastic lined. Maybe they can return to a cork liner?
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Any kind of screw-cap is going to be made of steel and need a plastic liner too. Any kind of plastic screw-cap is well, plastic, and even if it doesn't have a separate sealing surface, it has to be evaluated anyway. A cap made of ceramic or stainless steel
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Re: Bring back those horrible metal caps. (Score:2)
Years ago I was being shown around an industrial parts supplier's warehouse. The guy who owned it was proudly telling me they sold all the parts used in the machines that make frozen pizzas because they had "food grade" parts. When I asked what made some of the tubes "food grade" he said "They're clear." I the made the mistake of asking, "How does that make them food grade?" and he explained that "All rubber hoses break down, and nobody likes to see black bits of rubber in their pizza sauce."
I think glass
I'm done with commercial beverages (Score:2)
Toilet wine is the only safe alternative.
More seriously, I think it's hopeless to get plastic out of our food stream. We'll have to start looking into ways to deal with the plastic in people's bodies. Medicine that binds to the endocrine-disrupting compounds, new plastics that can be broken down in animals, physical removal of plastics from blood and digestive tract, etc. We are a society are far more likely to fight technology with technology than to accept a regression where we have less convenience or le
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A lot of these problems would be solved by going to cardboard- and natural wax-based solutiosn, and would usually contribute to more convenience in the long term (ie buying in bulk = having things available when you want them = cheaper).
That requires people with long time preference, unfortunately.
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Well I don't have a license to sell. But if I did, you would bring your own glass mason jars. But if you use those metal lids there is a little red ring of something. Probably Plastisol (PVC particles in plasticizer). I guess you could seal it with Gulf Wax like we used for sealing jam back in the old days.
Primary vs recycled (Score:2)
I'd like to see a study that breaks this finding further into caps made of primary and recycled plastic.
It's an open secret that sime materials, including plastic, lose more and more structural integrity with every recycling cycle. That's why plastic can only be recycled 2 or 3 times.
If there is worsening structural damage with every cycle, I think it would be wise to check if it has any effect on shedding microplastics.
Wait for someone to replicate it (Score:1)
Microplastic studies have been so wrong so many times, I just can't muster the freakout until other people replicate the results.
https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/... [apple.com]
Re: Wait for someone to replicate it (Score:2)
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This isn't just some random podcast. It's a rather well known phenomenon that it's insanely difficult to measure microplastics in a lab environment where you're surrounded by a shitton of microplastics.
It's worth waiting for a replication study.
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Why does it matter? Look at the methodology and results, and judge / critique those.
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Maybe don't radically change your lifestyle (Score:2)
Until the science settles on microplastics. At this stage, there are so many conflicting and unexpected findings, it's difficult to know where it's all headed. It could either end up being the next lead paint crisis, or a complete nothingburger. More likely, the truth lies somewhere between those extremes.