Plastic found in Coca-Cola and Schweppes bottles: association sounds the alarm

Several types of plastics have been discovered in Coca-Cola and Schweppes bottles, according to a survey by the association Agir pour l'Environnement.

Six types of plastic in the form of micro and nanoparticles have been identified in bottled Coca-Cola and Schweppes by a survey published this Thursday by the association Agir pour l’Environnement, which is calling on the health authorities.

The general director of the environmental protection association, Stéphen Kerckhove, believes that Coca Cola consumers "must be informed of the molecular instability of the plastic bottle", in a press release.

Six different plastics found in 1-litre bottles

Two laboratories studied samples from 1-litre bottles of Coca-Cola Original and 1.5-litre Schweppes Indian Tonic after opening them once, ten times, and then twenty times, as close as possible to normal use.

Using infrared analysis, observations of microplastics – plastic particles smaller than 5mm – were reveal the presence of six different polymers, a discovery "astonishing" for the association which indicates that "manufacturers only declare 2 polymers in contact with the drink: PE (polyethylene, editor's note) for the cap and PET (polyethylene terephthalate) for the bottle", we read in the report.

“A much greater health risk”

For Coca-Cola (46 microparticles per liter after about twenty openings) as for Schweppes (62 per liter), the more the bottle is opened, the more microparticles the soda contains, Agir pour l’Environnement thus raising the hypothesis “of the responsibility of the degradation of the cap in the origin of the microplastics identified".

The same observation applies to plastic nanoparticles, the average size of which increases as the openings and closings. Still "less well counted" and 1,000 times smaller than a microparticle, their tiny size makes them more easily assimilated by living organisms, posing “a much greater health risk”, according to the investigation.

Schweppes told Le Parisien on Wednesday that all of its packaging met “the strict food-grade quality requirements set by French and European health authorities” and that microplastics, "if they were found to be present", "are not intentionally incorporated into our packaging".

Contacted by AFP, Coca-Cola has not yet provided a response.

"Put an end to this accidental contamination"

The study does not have the value of a scientific study but shows a “correlation”, specifies the association, which recalls that “the internalization and accumulation of microparticles in the human body therefore pose significant health risks that are still poorly understood”.

It calls on the Directorate General for Health (DGS), the health agency Anses and the DGCCRF to take measures “in order to put an end to this contamination “fortuitous””.

In July 2022, Agir pour l’Environnement’d carried out a similar study on nine bottled waters.