According to a newly published study, microplastics are prevalent in the drinking water of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.

When plastic is poorly disposed of and breaks down, microscopic particles and flakes are released into the environment, where they can be consumed by animals and humans.

For the first time, researchers discovered microplastics in human blood.

According to UN estimates, the globe generates up to 400 million tonnes of plastic waste each year.

In 2019, the WHO produced a report stating that microplastics were “ubiquitous,” but that not enough was understood about the long-term effects on human health.

“We urgently need to know more about the health impact of microplastics because they are everywhere — including in our drinking water,” WHO Department of Public Health, Environment and Social Determinants of Health director Maria Neira said at the time.

Researchers from China University of Petroleum and Covenant University in Nigeria conducted the study, which did not look into the health implications of microplastics.

It was, however, the first to look for them in boreholes in the Lagos area, discovering that they were “abundant” in the water and sediment of all boreholes studied.

Boreholes provide drinking water to almost 90% of Lagos’ 20 million population since they are less contaminated than creeks and lagoons.

Water is delivered untreated and is frequently stored in tanks above people’s homes.

Microplastics do not disintegrate, according to the experts, and if plastic pollution persists, it “will result in increased accumulation in the borehole drinking water with time.”

The authors of the paper, which was published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, advise that the government should more actively control industrial sources of pollution.

They claimed that studying microplastics in water is difficult since there is no standard way to detect contamination.

“It is essential to develop general criteria for sampling and reporting on microplastics” for further research, they wrote.

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