Vincent J. Curtis
28 Aug 24
RE: Microplastic is in your coffee? Device for that. News item. The Hamilton Spectator 28 Aug 24.
The story describes something close to a fraud. It is said that a UBC professor invented a device that detects the amount of microplastics in drinks and “other liquids.” A device like that already exists; it’s called a turbidimeter. This device measures the extinction of light due to particles floating in the liquid. It requires calibration, however, for its results to be quantitative and reproducible. No mention is made of how this new invention is calibrated.
There are many problems with the
microplastics-in-your-drinks story. The first is that the most common of
plastics, polyethylene, is less dense than water; and since polyethylene is also
insoluble in water, the microscopic particles of plastic, given a little time,
will float to the surface,A where their presence would be noticeable. Has anyone noticed a white scum on a glass of
water?
Another problem is how microscopic particles of plastic could get into Hamilton’s drinking water. Hamilton’s water supply is drawn from deep in Lake Ontario, and the water is filtered and treated before it gets piped into the potable water supply. How can literally tonnage quantities of plastic particles get into Hamilton’s water supply in the first place, and escape the removal process?
The microplastics story is the next
scare-mongering narrative.
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