Since the recent reports by OrbMedia that found microplastics in 83% of tap water<\/a> and 92% of bottled water<\/a>. Vic Minett on the mid-morning show received a question on the show asking three questions related to this issue to Magnus Jern, founder and head of strategy at TAPP Water.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a short summary of the interview:<\/p>\n BBC: <\/strong>What are microplastics? A study by Orb Media found microplastics in 90% of all bottled water with some as high as 10,000 plastic pieces per liter and 83% of all tap water across Europe and North America.<\/p>\n BBC: <\/strong>Where do they come from? BBC: <\/strong>Are microplastics dangerous?
\nMagnus<\/strong>: Pieces of plastic smaller than 5mm and mostly smaller than the eye can see. Microplastics have been found pretty much everywhere including the oceans, fish, microorganisms, tap water and even bottled water.<\/p>\n
\nMagnus<\/strong>: The main sources of microplastics are single-use plastics (bottles, wipes, cotton buds, plastic bags, etc), rubber from car tires and microfibers from clothes. Plastics end up in the water systems from landfills, roads and your washing machine at home.<\/p>\n
\nMagnus<\/strong>: They are certainly not good. We\u2019ve found that they can kill microorganisms in the oceans and severely damage the organs of fish. Therefore microplastics are probably not good for humans either.<\/p>\n