New study highlights the extent of plastic contamination in tap water world wide – learn more
Plankton arrow worm, Sagitta setosa, as seen with a blue plastic fibre in it’s gut. The fibre is approximately 3 mm long. Plankton is at the base of the food chain. This plastic fibre is transferred along the food chain.
![](http://sd41blogs.ca/ignasv/files/2017/09/Plankton-with-plastic-thread-1024x571.jpg)
Current standard water treatment systems do not filter out all of the microplastics, Mahon said: “There is nowhere really where you can say these are being trapped 100%. In terms of fibres, the diameter is 10 microns across and it would be very unusual to find that level of filtration in our drinking water systems.”