10.27.21
Swedish water company Bluewater says new evidence of microplastics in the blood of cows and pigs is “deeply alarming” and underlines a potential threat to human health.
“The growing body of research confirming microplastics are in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat is deeply alarming because of the potential long-term threat to human health and wellbeing,” said Bluewater public relations and communication director Dave Noble.
Further research, however, is needed into the consequences of long-term exposure to microplastics.
A white paper entitled, “The Global Plastic Calamity,” authored by Bluewater and Dr. Ivonne Mirpuri of the Mirpuri Foundation in Lisbon, Portugal, a leading specialist on the key role hormones play in regulating the body’s systems, concluded that endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in thruway plastic bottles posed the number one threat to humankind.
Dr. Mirpuri wrote, “humankind faces extinction within 200 years unless steps are urgently taken to avoid the use of synthetic plastics and the chemicals in them.”
A team of Holland’s Vrije University in Amsterdam led by Dr. Heather A. Leslie, a leading expert in international microplastics, carried out the latest research.
During a lecture this past year in the Dutch capital, Leslie revealed that her study found evidence of plastic particles in the bloodstreams of cows and pigs, adding to the growing evidence of the pervasive spread of plastics. In 2020, a Spanish research project detected microplastics in sheep feces in south-east Spain.
Further, in early October, a study published by the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research in Greece said 3,760 tons of plastic debris – the equivalent weight of eight jumbo jets – are currently floating in the Mediterranean alone. The researchers estimated that 17,600 tons of plastic enter seas around the planet every year.
Bluewater water purifiers for home, commercial and public distribution are designed to remove practically all water contaminants, from toxic chemicals and metals to microplastics. The company’s water refill stations and sustainable bottles are also a regular sight at events around the world. The company seeks to reduce their environmental footprint with sustainable water dispensing initiatives, from the British Open Golf Tournament to the Cape Town Marathon.