Human exposure to microplastics from urban decentralized pay-to-fetch drinking-water refill kiosks

Microplastics in the human diet have become a worldwide concern. To date, microplastics in urban drinking water supplies, such as decentralized drinking-water refill kiosks, have not been studied and are a pressing concern since they are so closely tied to human life and have a significant influence on health. This study evaluated the occurrence and characteristics of microplastics in 63 drinking water samples collected from decentralized refill kiosks in the Mexico City metropolitan area. All of the sampled drinking water contained microplastics in concentrations ranging from 11 to 860 microplastics L⁻¹. The detected microplastics were mostly fiber (65 %), followed by fragment (28 %), and film (7 %). They were mainly composed of polyethylene terephthalate, polyamides, vinyl polymers, polyacetal, and cellophane in sizes ranging from 20 μm to 5 mm, with 75 % of them accounting for sizes <300 μm. SEM-EDX analysis revealed weathered microplastics, biota adherence, and the presence of inorganic elements on the surface of microplastics. We estimate that Mexico City residents inadvertently ingest 42 microplastics L⁻¹, with an annual exposure of around 1.47 × 10⁴ microplastics per adult and 6.73 × 10³ microplastics per child. Therefore, future research is needed to strengthen drinking water refill kiosk guidelines and standards for better microplastic management. This study serves as a wake-up call to many developing countries that use similar urban water systems, drawing their attention to global microplastic contamination of drinking water.