Bioavailability of Plastic Contaminants and Their Effects on Plastic Bottled and Sachet Drinking Water Supplies

Aim: This study examined the bioavailability of plastic contaminants and their effects on plastic bottled and sachet drinking water supplies in Benin City.

Methodology: Plastic bottled water produced by Eva water supplies was collected in triplicates and three brands of sachet drinking water were collected from different pure water distributors within Benin City metropolis. All packaged water samples were stored at room temperature for four weeks. Analyses were conducted for week one week and four.

Results: The total viable bacterial counts ranged from 1.0 x 101 – 1.9 x 102 cfu/ml for the plastic bottled water and 1.3 x 102 – 2.3 x 102 cfu/ml, total coliforms (TC), faecal coliforms (FC) and E. coli were not found in all the plastic bottled water samples tested. The bacteria isolated from bottled water samples were Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus spp. and Staphylococcus aureus while bacteria isolated from sachet water samples were Klebsiella spp., Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter spp., Micrococcus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The fungal isolates were Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The Plastic bottled water sample appeared to have slightly better physico-chemical qualities than sachet water sample. At the end of four weeks storage period. Bisphenol A (BPA) congeners were found in the plastic bottled water samples and sachet water samples respectively. The concentration of BPA in plastic bottled water ranged from 0.001 mg/l in first week to 0.139 mg/l in fourth week and had higher concentration in sachet water samples (0.001 to 3.007mg/l) with vinyl chloride and methylene chloride having the highest peaks.

Conclusion: This study has shown that the bioavailability of BPA components, reduction of microbial load and physico-chemical qualities of bottled and sachet water appeared to start manifesting at the fourth week of storage.