État de l'art sur la présence de microplastiques dans les eaux destinées à la consommation humaine

Microplastics (MP) are polymerized particles of a size range below 5 mm. They have been detected in every environmental matrix in the recent years, including drinking water both bottled and tap water. MP concentrations and the risk associated with them are still poorly understood. The objectives of this state-of-the-art review are to detail the different techniques used in the published research, have a critical judgment on them, and highlight the main results. In these studies, researchers use a variety of techniques for sampling, sample treatment and sample analysis. The discrepancy in analysis techniques, ranging from optical microscopy to combined spectroscopic techniques, leads to differences in the size of the detected MP, and in analytical biases. Thus, we found discrepancies of several orders of magnitude in reported concentrations, ranging from 0.007 MP/L to 5.4 × 107 MP/L. These discrepancies are also present when reporting sizes, colors, blank results and laboratory quality control. While the published results cannot be compared with each other, the studies tend to show a removal rate of MP between raw water and drinking water of about 80%. Also, they tend to show that the removal rate is highest for MP × 100 μm and is decreasing with particle size.