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Minnesota Researchers Find Microplastics In Beer Made With Great Lakes Water
Microplastics Also Found In Tap Water And Sea Salt From Around The World
Thursday, May 10, 2018, By Rich Kremer WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO

Microplastics. Florida Sea Grant (CC BY-NC-ND)

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have found microplastics in 12 brands of beer made with water from the Great Lakes. The study also found plastics contamination in sea salt and tap water from around the world.

The study was led by UMN School of Public Health graduate student Mary Kosuth with assistance from microplastics expert Sherri Mason of State University of New York at Fredonia, and overseen by UMN School of Public Health associate professor Betsy Wattenberg.

The team sampled 12 brands of beer from large brewers and craft brewers from around the Great Lakes. In every sample microscopic plastic fibers and particles were detected. Most of the fibers were smaller than five millimeters in length.

Wattenberg said what was interesting about the beer samples was a discrepancy in the amount of plastic contained in the final product when compared with the water used to make it.

“The amount of microplastics detected in the beer didn’t necessarily match the amount of microplastics detected in the water that was used to make the beer,” said Wattenberg. “And that sort of suggests that the plastics can be introduced at different steps in the process of making the beer.”

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