Plastic pollution is a rapidly growing environmental and human health crisis, with no sign of improvement (1)(2)(3)(4). Since 2012 the number of studies on plastic pollution has quadrupled (1), and plastic pollution, from macro to nano size, has been documented even in the most remote biomes of the planet (5). Studies have shown contamination by microplastics (MPs) in mollusks (Santana et al., 2016), crustaceans, and fish used in human nutrition (6), and also in tap-water, bottled water (7), beer (8), honey, sugar (8) and salt (9)(10). Plastic materials are cheap, lightweight, durable, and resistant to corrosion, breakage, and biodegradation (7), and therefore it never goes away. When exposed to the sun and wind, plastic undergoes photo-oxidation, where progressively, larger pieces of plastic breakdown into smaller and smaller micro or nano-particles (11)(12).
Because of its versatile properties, consumers have become dependent on plastic, and world production had gone from a million tons when production began in 1945 to a an alarming rate of 335 million tons in 2017 (13). With the increase in production, there was also an increase in plastic waste (14)(2)(15)(16). It is estimated that more than 10% of the world's garbage is made of plastic (14), with approximately 120 million tons of post-consumer plastic waste (17).
This exponential growth in the production and consumption of plastics has created several problems. MP’s debris is composed of non-renewable source material containing additives from different chemicals that travel great distances and are released and accumulate in natural environments (14). The occurrence of plastic debris has been reported in several aquatic environments, including rivers, lakes, estuaries, coastal and marine ecosystems, and represents an increasing environmental concern (14)(4)(2)(18).
Plastic Pollution is not new, and for over five decades, environmentalists have been sounding off the alarm about its potential environmental impact, and more recently, its health impact. However, due to its multidisciplinary nature, there are several knowledge gaps (16) that need to be filled. Tap-water contamination is of great concern because of its daily consumption, including its uses in cooking and washing fruits and vegetables. Despite evidence of widespread contamination, we are still unsure about the health effects of this steady, daily MPs diet. An analysis conducted by the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) estimated that people consume five grams of plastic a day (19).
Brasilia, inaugurated in 1960, is the capital of Brazil and the seat of the federal government. This planned city is shaped like an aircraft (20). The body of the airplane is composed of a central administrative area, where downtown is located, and the federal government is located in the “cockpit,” while the residential and commercial sectors are on each side of the central area are known as Asa Sul (South Wing) and Asa Norte (North Wing) (Fig. 1.). Middle and upper-middle-class residents inhabit Brasilia's wings, which presently has approximately 220 thousand people. This initially planned nucleus suffered a progressively accelerated and mostly disorganized process of peripheral urbanization, and currently, the greater Brasilia population has reached close to three million. During the last decades, the progressive urbanization on and around the water basin that supplies the city has resulted in increased pollution of its streams and reservoirs and a severe water supply crisis.
Our study's objective was to investigate the possible contamination by MPs in drinking water samples collected from two main residential and commercial areas of Brasília.