[sparrish]

Or not..

"believed to be microplastics"

"there is a chance the Nile Red dye is adhering to another unknown substance other than plastic."

So it may, or may not be microplastics that they found/counted.

[makira]

Full quote: "Mason's team was able to identify specific plastics over 100 microns (0.10 mm) in size but not smaller particles. According to experts contacted by CBC News, there is a chance the Nile Red dye is adhering to another unknown substance other than plastic."

Key point: they're unsure about the smaller particles, but they're sure about the bigger ones. There is microplastics in the samples.

[dumbfounder]

Not only that, but we have no idea what the "safe levels" are. They say it's only roughly double that of tap water, which doesn't seem alarming to me.

[craftyguy]

That's not too surprising, given that this problem of consuming plastics is a relatively new one. There likely hasn't been enough time to fully understand the implications of eating tiny plastic particles. I doubt that they are all expelled from your body with other wastes given that this isn't something your body naturally deals with. More research is needed.

[Siecje]

What else could it be? I'm going to assume it wasn't found in the baseline test and it is something that shouldn't be there.

There isn't a whole lot to "manufacturing" water.