KUALA LUMPUR (April 14): Spritzer Bhd said that no microplastics have been detected in the listed group's natural mineral water following an analysis conducted by SIRIM, a reputable independent laboratory.

In a statement, Spritzer said SIRIM's laboratory recently conducted tests on samples taken from a 600ml Spritzer Natural Mineral Water bottle produced on Jan 21.

It noted that the tests did not detect any synthetic polymers or microplastics, even when examined under 50 times magnification.

"This is in contrast to research conducted by the State University of New York — Fredonia (SUNY-Fredonia) titled 'Synthetic Polymer Contamination in Bottled Water' revealing that many international brands of bottled water were contaminated with microplastics, which, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the European Chemicals Agency, are very small fragments of plastic originating from various industrial and manufacturing processes and products that can contaminate natural ecosystems," Spirtzer said.

"Tests conducted by SUNY-Fredonia covered 259 individual bottles from 27 different lots across 11 brands, purchased from 19 locations in nine countries worldwide. The report indicated that there were on average 325 particles per litre, with a concentration ranging from zero to more than 10,000 particles in a single bottle. Based on these samples, the SUNY-Fredonia report indicated that 93% of these water bottles contained microplastics."

"Most notably, the SUNY-Fredonia tests showed that microplastics were detected in the samples from these brands ranging from 6.5 uM (micrometre) to 100 uM in sizes. However, the recent analysis conducted by the independent laboratory showed that in these ranges and even up to 1uM, no microplastics were detected in Spritzer Natural Mineral Water," it added.

It also said the findings from SIRIM are a powerful affirmation of the stringent quality processes practised by Spritzer, and a testament to its efforts in ensuring that the 330-acre site in Taiping, Perak located near a tropical rainforest from which the company draws the sources of its natural mineral water, is kept clean and safe for consumption.

At the time of writing, shares in Spritzer were 1% or two sen higher at RM2.03 after 6,600 shares were transacted with a market capitalisation of RM426.29 million.