Viruses survive in fresh water by ‘hitchhiking’ on plastic, study finds

Researchers have found that dangerous viruses can stay in the water for up to three days.

Microplastics, tiny particles less than 5mm long, were found to survive in water in the form of enteric viruses. They are still infectious and pose a health risk.

The lead researcher on the project said that the viruses can attach to microplastics and survive in the water for three days.

This is the first research into how viruses behave in the environment that has been done. He used standard laboratory methods to find out if the viruses were infectious.

He said that they were unsure how well viruses could survive on plastic in the environment.

Microplastics enabled pathogen transfer in the environment according to the findings of the project. The paper is in a journal.

It takes three days to get from the wastewater treatment works to the public beach.

Wastewater treatment plants were not able to capture small particles of plastic. Even if a wastewater treatment plant is doing everything it can to clean sewage waste, the water still has microplastics in it, which are then transported down the river, into the estuary and wind up on the beach.

The plastic particles are so small that they can be swallowed. When they wash up on the beach, they are lentil-sized, brightly coloured pellets that children may pick up and put in their mouths. It doesn't take a lot of viruses to make you sick.

If bits of microplastics are colonised by human pathogens, that could be a significant health risk.

The researchers tested two types of viruses, those with an envelope around them and those without, and found that the flu and the enteric viruses were the same. In those with a coating, the envelope dissolved and the virus died, while those without it survived.

Plastic pollution lasts a lot longer than natural surfaces because of the diseases it can cause.

The researchers wanted to know how long the viruses would stay infectious in future research.

A study done by the team found levels of faecalbacteria on wet wipes and cotton buds on the beach. Sewagebacteria were found on plastic pellets on Scottish beaches.