Coway Water Purifiers Certified as Effective in Removing Microplastics

• Coway globally has 26 direct-flow water purifiers and 3 NanoTrap filters certified by the WQA for meeting NSF/ANSI 401 standards
• Besides, Coway globally has 40 Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purifiers recognised as effective for microplastic removal by Intertek

An analysis by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) suggests that the average person ingests as many as 5 grams of microplastics weekly – that is the equivalent of eating a whole credit card. While the exact effects of plastics on human health are still relatively unknown, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has highlighted potential adverse effects, such as inflammatory responses in the body.

Coway, the Best Life Solution company and a leader in the global water purifier industry, has taken proactive steps to combat environmental pollution and potential health risks associated with microplastics. Coway has attained certifications for their water purifier performances in microplastic removal with the assistance of international bodies.

NSF/ANSI 401 Standards for Direct-flow Water Purifiers
The current NSF/ANSI 401 standards, designated by the USA’s National Sanitation Foundation (NSF), are the only standards for the microplastic reduction performance of water filtration systems. A certified water filtration system is proven to remove fine particles ranging from 0.5 to 1 micrometer in size, including microplastics[1].

To date, 26 of Coway's direct-flow water purifiers globally, also known as NanoTrap water purifiers, and 3 NanoTrap filters have been certified as conforming to the NSF/ANSI 401 standards by the Water Quality Association (WQA).

Intertek Recognitions for RO Water Purifiers
Coway’s Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane water purifiers, widely used in Southeast Asian households, have been verified for microplastic removal performance through stringent testing by Intertek, a leading international certification organisation.

Since there are currently no global standards for microplastic removal for RO systems, Coway, in collaboration with Intertek, established the test protocol[2] for the reduction of nano-sized particles as small as 30 nanometers (nm) – approximately 1000th of a human hair.

Coway's Reverse Osmosis water purifiers are verified to reduce nanoparticles with an efficiency of over 99% by Intertek’s validation for microplastic removal performance. To date, a total of 40 models of Coway water purifiers have been confirmed to be effective for the removal of nano-sized particles (30nm) via performance test reports. These models include NEO PLUS (CHP-264L), AIS (CHPI-7520L), VILLAEM II (CHP-18AR), OMBAK (CHP-7310R).

Coway NEO PLUS water purifier (CHP-264L) is one of Coway’s best-selling models that has been well received across South Korea and Southeast Asia markets due to its excellent water purification performance.

Coway NEO PLUS water purifier is equipped with Coway Reverse Osmosis (RO) Membrane Filter System with outstanding contaminant removal performance for household water purifiers. The innovative system filters out 100 types of harmful substances, including perfluorinated compounds, natural radioactive materials such as uranium, environmental hormones, and algae toxin, while providing abundant purified water.

Coway NEO PLUS water purifier has also acquired certifications for its water filtration ability in low-water pressure areas with the NSF-JWPA P508 certification from NSF.

A Coway official said, "We rigorously verify and ensure the safety of our products against emerging harmful substances from various sources, so consumers can enjoy clean water without worries under any circumstances. Moving forward, we are committed to advancing filter technology and giving our customers even more confidence in our water purifiers."

[1] Microplastic performance claims are based on the NSF/ANSI 42 Class 1 Particulate, 0.5~1um, protocol as a surrogate test. The systems that comply with the NSF/ANSI 42 Class 1 conform to NSF/ANSI 401 for the reduction of microplastics.
[2] Coway’s exclusive performance testing methodology for water purifiers was approved and adopted as a test protocol by Intertek for evaluating and certifying microplastic removal efficacy.