Microplastics: France takes the plunge
At the intersection of public health and environmental issues, France is preparing to publish a voluntary standard that will make it possible, for the first time, to measure microplastics in water.
Environmental protection
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Microplastics in the clouds, as recently reported by Géo magazine? Of course, since they are in the water! "Every time it rains, it rains plastic," says the website. plasticforecast.com , which now provides us with plastic weather forecasts, featuring striking graphics. Even when the sky is blue, Parisians receive around 40 kilograms of plastic "precipitation" per day... And when it rains, up to 420 kilograms of plastic falls!
A new kind of weather forecast, "The Plastic Forecast" was launched in Paris in May 2023 because our capital was hosting the second phase of negotiations on the international treaty to combat plastic pollution. The treaty itself was initiated by the fifth United Nations Environment Assembly and is expected to come into force in 2024.
Microplastics in water: a global challenge
But others have already rolled up their sleeves... and once again, it's happening in France. In January 2024, AFNOR published a voluntary standard proposing a consensus-based method for measuring microplastics in ultra-pure water (used in semiconductors and the pharmaceutical industry), water intended for human consumption, and raw groundwater. This will help establish a common language for evaluating, comparing, and avoiding mistakes.
"The presence of microparticles, ranging in size from 5 millimeters to a few hundred nanometers, in river water, seawater, tap water, and bottled water is a proven problem. Solving it starts with having reliable sampling and analysis methods so that the results obtained can be compared," explains Laurie Jardel, from AFNOR's Engineering, Construction, Water Cycle and Materials department, who assisted professionals in drafting the text.
Towards standardization of treatment methods
The French standard, designed in two parts labeled NF T90-968-1 and 2, will be adopted at the European (CEN-Cenelec) and international (ISO) levels. It should subsequently serve as a basis for analyzing microplastics in other matrices: food, compost, soil, wastewater... and, of course, the rainwater mentioned above. It could also pave the way for the standardization of treatment methods: in a second stage, these plastics will need to be isolated, then treated or even recycled, in the case of the larger ones.
"It's an umbrella standard, so it could easily be adapted to different types of action or industries," says Maud Liron, head of standardization development for water and biodiversity at AFNOR. "I hope it will have a bright future, or more precisely, that it will be embraced by the market in a way that reflects its quality." " The standard should also be seen as a technical complement to NF ISO 46001 on management systems for efficient water use, which is little known and little used in France, but which needs to be used more in view of the new issues surrounding water stress.
Are you interested? Get ahead of the curve on the publication of standards NF T90-968-1 and 2 by participating in the webinar on December 18, 2023. You will have the opportunity to talk to the experts who contributed to the standard: companies (Veolia, Nestlé, Phytocontrol, Danone Waters), research organizations (INRAE, IFREMER), government representatives (ANSES, Nice Côte d'Azur local authority), etc.
