Which Water Filters Reduce Microplastics?

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There’s growing attention on microplastics as a human health concern. Autopsy studies are showing an increasing body burden of plastics accumulating in us, with a study published earlier this year by showing that the average person now has a credit card and a half’s worth of plastic…in their brains. The same study found a high correlation between dementia levels and the amount of plastic in the brains of the deceased. While proving A causes B is very difficult from a scientific perspective in human health studies, we probably don’t need to go further than the high correlation analysis to simply say — hm, probably plastic in our brain is not a good thing. 

“Plastic never goes away — it just breaks down into finer and finer particles,” said Desiree LaBeaud, MD, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at Stanford Medicine who co-founded the university’s interdisciplinary Plastics and Health Working Group.

These tiny bits of plastic in plastic water bottles and other beverage bottles are too small for people to see with their eyes, so they might not be aware of all the microplastic they consume from their beverages. The same is true for foods that are purchased in plastic containers. 

Did you know, for instance, that in every liter of bottled water, there’s about a quarter million bits of plastic?

Microplastics are consumed frequently and they can harm human health. “Scientists have estimated that adults ingest the equivalent of one credit card per week in microplastics. Studies in animals and human cells suggest microplastics exposure could be linked to cancer, heart attacks, reproductive problems and a host of other harms. Yet few studies have directly examined the impact of microplastics on human health, leaving us in the dark about how dangerous they really are.”

Heart attacks and cancer are bad enough, but the potential harm from microplastics also includes:

• General inflammation in the body
• Dementia
• Vascular dysfunction
• Cell damage
• Hormone disruption
• Intestinal injury
• Liver infection
• Metabolic disorder
• Accumulation in the body.

Another issue is that we humans are exposed to other chemicals in air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution, and food contaminants. Years ago, the journalist Bill Moyers had his blood tested and said in one of his PBS shows the results indicated he had over 60 human-made chemicals in his blood. He did not intend for them to be there, meaning they were not from deliberately utilized medicines; he had unintentionally absorbed them simply by breathing, eating, and drinking because human-made chemicals are nearly everywhere.

Getting back to microplastics — one obvious solution is to stop using all plastic beverage and food containers. Another is to use water filters to reduce or eliminate microplastics and other contaminants in tap water.

One of my friends had a plastic pitcher with a carbon filter she kept in her refrigerator. She used it to filter her tap water, which seemed reasonable because the tap water in a city with 700,000 people might not have been that clean. The cheap plastic pitchers with carbon filters typically may not reduce or eliminate microplastics though, but how can you tell if they do or do not?

There are home water filters that have certifications, meaning they have been tested and confirmed by a third party to eliminate contaminants, including microplastics.

With home water filters, the tendency may be to ‘cheap out’ and get a plastic water pitcher with carbon filters for about $40 to $50 or less, but these filters may not work very well and are probably not certified to eliminate what the manufacturers claim to eliminate.

There are NSF certifications for residential water filters, which means the filters have been tested by an organization outside of the companies that make them. “While no federal regulations exist for residential water treatment filters, purifiers and reverse osmosis systems, voluntary national standards and NSF protocols have been developed that establish minimum requirements for the safety and performance of these products in treating water.”

What is NSF? “As an independent, internationally recognized organization, we play a pivotal role in the development of robust public health standards. Comprising a dedicated standards team and a team of service professionals, we employ a multi-faceted approach. NSF engages in the rigorous testing, auditing, and certification of an array of products and services. The NSF mark serves as an emblem of assurance, signifying to consumers, retailers, and regulatory bodies that our certified products meet or exceed requisite standards.”

One water filter that is NSF certified is the AquaTru Carafe, a 4-stage reverse-osmosis system with a glass carafe. One source says it only takes minutes to set up at home. Apparently, this filter was effective in removing but not eliminating microplastics. “Because AquaTru has obtained this certification, it tells us that the Carafe was able to demonstrate a reduction of at least 85% of these microplastics under the specified test protocol.”

Another NSF certified water filter is the AquaTru Classic, which uses a similar system but has a plastic tank to hold the filtered water. Apparently, this tank is free of BPA.

The British Berkefeld Doulton (with Ultra Sterasyl Filter) is a stainless steel countertop gravity filter that is also NSF certified. It costs less than the two mentioned above.

The Brita Elite pitcher filter has been certified to reduce microplastics but not eliminate them, according to one source. With plastic pitchers it may be possible for plastics to leach into the water they hold.

The PUR Plus water filter pitcher is certified to reduce microplastics, according to one source. The pitcher is made of plastic.

One important point when considering home water filters is this: There are some water filters that are certified for reducing one or more contaminants so some consumers assume they reduce or eliminate microplastics too, but they don’t. To state it more simply, all water filters do not reduce or eliminate microplastics. It would be a good idea to look for the ones that have received NSF certification for reducing or eliminating microplastics.

Reducing exposure to microplastics will most likely be better for our human health. Reducing the use of plastics is also better for the environment because plastic manufacturing involves the fossil fuels, “coal, natural gas… crude oil.”

Fossil fuels are the primary contributor to climate change. “Fossil fuels — coal, oil and gas — are by far the largest contributor to global climate change, accounting for around 68 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90 per cent of all carbon dioxide emissions.”