this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2025
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The researchers found an average of around 100 microplastic particles per liter in glass bottles of soft drinks, lemonade, iced tea and beer. That was five to 50 times higher than the rate detected in plastic bottles or metal cans.

"We expected the opposite result," Ph.D. student Iseline Chaib, who conducted the research, told AFP.

"We then noticed that in the glass, the particles emerging from the samples were the same shape, color and polymer composition—so therefore the same plastic—as the paint on the outside of the caps that seal the glass bottles," she said.

The paint on the caps also had "tiny scratches, invisible to the naked eye, probably due to friction between the caps when there were stored," the agency said in a statement.

This could then "release particles onto the surface of the caps," it added.

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[–] be_gt@lemmy.world 171 points 1 month ago (11 children)

So nothing coupled to the glass but rather the cap having a extra plastic layer on the wet side.

[–] Infinite@lemmy.zip 56 points 1 month ago (1 children)

No, the paint on the outside.

[–] NoSpotOfGround@lemmy.world 28 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yes. So many people are misunderstanding this article... The microplastics are on the inside, in the drink, and they are bits of the paint from the exterior of bottle caps that stuck to the inside of other caps when the caps were all jumbled together in big bags before they were placed on the bottles.

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