TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian households depend on bottled drinking water, both in single use and refillable containers. According to A Study of the quality of Drinking Water in Indonesian Households by the ministry of health in 2020, 31.1 percent of households consume water from refillable containers, and 10.7 percent use bottled water. In cities, bottled water is drunk by 16 percent of households. This figure is higher than the consumption of piped water, at only 14.4 percent.
The problem is that water in refillable containers has been contaminated by microplastic particles. In April, Tempo tested a number of brands of mineral water in polycarbonate containers. The results showed 23 million particles of microplastics per liter with a concentration of 0.2 ppm and a weight of 0.3 milligrams in every 1.5 liters of water. This test complements a previous test conducted by Greenpeace that found 95 million particles per liter and 85 million particles per liter into samples of single use containers made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Baca juga:
Tempo also examined six water samples from two brands of bottled water in 600 milliliter PET containers. The results showed that brand A had 37 particles per cubic millimeter and brand B had 31 particles per cubic millimeter. Based on the research by Greenpeace, consumers’ intake of microplastics is between 0.378 and 9.450 milligrams per day.
The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) planned to set a maximum threshold for microplastics in reusable drinking water containers. However, this proposed regulation is opposed by the bottled water industry, which feels it is discriminative because it only covers reusable water containers that contain bisphenol-A (BPA) as a component of polycarbonate plastic. This massive lobbying led to the state secretariat not implementing the regulation.
How dangerous are microplastics in drinking water? Our coverage includes a study of microplastics that have been found in peoples’ lungs. Enjoy the magazine.
Dini Pramita
Editor
Microplastic in Water Containers
Laboratory tests have shown microplastics being shed by reusable water containers. Tempo conducted an independent test.
Microplastics’ Ticking Time Bomb
How dangerous to humans are microplastics in bottled water?
The Problem of Regulating Labels
The BPOM tried to set an upper threshold for microplastics in reusable water containers. It was opposed by the industry. Why?
The Bottled Water’s Prospects
The consumption of bottled water has risen in line with the increase in urban living. How tough is the competition in this business sector?
Double Trouble of Bottled Water
There have been an increasing number of studies in bottled water. Bottles do not only contain microplastics.
Opinion: Our Right of Water Access
Water should be a public good. Privatization has made this crucial commodity expensive. How can It be regulated?
