Water testing by Eurofins at the PET Cup: Bisphenol A and microplastics in the river Bodrog
During this year's PET Cup, the Environmental Testing Laboratory of Eurofins took samples from the river Bodrog, and the results provide an important snapshot of what other pollutants, invisible to the naked eye, are in the water besides waste. Such high concentrations of microplastics have not typically been found in domestic surface waters and, unfortunately, one of the notorious everlasting substances, the endocrine disruptor and carcinogen Bisphenol A, has also been found.
In addition to collecting waste and supporting the cause of environmental protection, this year's last PET Cup action organized on the river Bodrog also gave Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Kft, a leader in environmental testing, the opportunity to support one of the most important Hungarian nature conservation initiatives with free tests as part of the company's social responsibility, using the laboratory's tools to highlight the seriousness of ongoing water pollution.
Eurofins employees sampled the Olaszliszka section of the river in August. During the laboratory tests, even the staff of the testing laboratory, which has more than 30 years of experience in environmental protection and surface water testing, were shocked by the results.
Microplastics in the Bodrog – as well
As Eurofins' previous tests in Hungary have already shown (including the Tiny Plastic Puzzle), our largest domestic rivers, the Danube and the Tisza, as well as Lake Balaton, are not free of microplastics, and, as in international measurements, the presence of tiny plastics has been detected in these waters on several occasions.
In the Bodrog, Eurofins carried out its first microplastics measurement in August, and unfortunately the results were very worrisome:
"Compared to the surface waters we have tested so far, we found an order of magnitude higher amount of microplastics in the Bodrog, with an average of 214.8 particles per cubic meter", said Dr. Gábor Bordós, head of the Microplastics Testing Laboratory of Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Kft.
The vast majority of microplastics, about 80 percent are polyethylene and about 10 percent are polypropylene, these are the two compounds most commonly used in the production of plastics, so the pollutants in the river are a faithful reflection of the industrial and commercial use of plastics.
The composition of the remaining ten percent is quite mixed, but polyester terephthalate, which is also the raw material for PET bottles, was detected, suggesting that the fragmentation of PET bottles and other PET products starts already in the water, or that these particles have already been released into the river in the form of microplastics.
Polystyrene was also found, as well as acrylic particles supposedly from paint production and cellulose acetate particles from the fragmentation of cigarette butts, and the cocktail was also found to contain the well-known PVC. Dr. Gábor Bordós stressed that this study was based on a single sampling (laboratory measurements were made using FTIR microscopy after sampling more than 2.000 litres of water). The results provide an important snapshot of the river, but more comprehensive studies will be needed to draw more far-reaching conclusions.
A notorious carcinogen: Bisphenol A
The employees of Eurofins also found another important contaminant in the Bodrog, Bisphenol A, one of the most common forms of bisphenols. Widely used in the manufacture of polycarbonates and epoxy resins, these compounds are found in many areas of life, from PVCs to food packaging.
Bisphenol A is considered a very dangerous substance above the limit value, its most notorious effect is the disruption of the hormonal balance, but it also causes nervous system damage and has been linked to cancer, said Zoltán Palotai, head of the Environmental Business Unit of Eurofins Analytical Services Hungary Kft..
In line with the EU Drinking Water Directive, from 2026 Hungarian legislation will also regulate the presence of Bisphenol A in drinking water, with a limit value of 2.5 micrograms/l. As for surface water, the EQS Regulation (2008/105/EC) requires that the concentration of the notorious compound should not exceed 130 micrograms/l in any case, due to the sensitivity of aquatic ecosystems.
Fortunately, this was not the case in the current measurement. However, the above-mentioned Regulation also stipulates that the annual average level of Bisphenol A should not exceed 0.000034 micrograms per liter. Although the current level of 0.07 micrograms per liter is well above this value, a much longer-term data series would be needed to compare it properly with the stricter limit value.
Therefore, the measurements of Eurofins, unfortunately, provide worrisome results and support the PET Cup's objectives of protecting nature and the environment, cleaning up our rivers and significantly reducing their plastic content.