You know those little packets of Splenda at diners and cafes? Sucralose, an artificial sweetener that's found in tons of food and beverages, is the distinctive ingredient in them.
The ingredient has raised concerns for its impact on human health — and new research from the University of Florida shows that it's also ending up in our environment, where it could become quite disruptive, according to a report from Phys.org.
What's happening?
Unlike many sugars, sucralose isn't easily processed by tiny bacteria, so it's harder for the body to absorb it through normal digestion, as indicated by Healthline.
"We can't break sucralose down and a lot of microorganisms can't break it down, either, because it's a really tough molecule that doesn't degrade easily," said Tracey Schafer, assistant research scientist for UF's Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience and Institute for Food and Agriculture Science, per Phys.org.
As a result, the molecule is making it all the way past wastewater treatment plants and is entering aquatic environments.
To understand the impact it has in natural settings, Schafer partnered with Amelia Westmoreland, a program alum and researcher familiar with the issue.
They examined two types of prominent aquatic microorganisms, per Phys.org: cyanobacteria, aka blue-green algae, some of earliest known forms of life on Earth; and diatoms, another type of algae that fuels 30% of primary food production in the marine food chain.
Each test group was studied in both freshwater and brackish water — a mix of salt and freshwater — along with a control group.
Their findings, now published, showed that in the presence of sucralose, freshwater cyanobacteria increased in population, whereas in brackish water, both cyanobacteria and diatoms ultimately decreased.
Why are the findings important?
Both of the microorganisms studied underpin a vast web of ecosystems. The ability of sucralose to make their populations rise and fall could disrupt the natural balance of that fundamental microscopic world, the researchers said, per Phys.org.
"There is the potential that the freshwater communities might be mistaking sucralose for a nutrient, for a sugar that they can use as food," said Westmoreland.
Increasing the amount of blue-green algae might not sound like a bad thing. After all, cyanobacteria have been found to literally remove harmful carbon from the air. Yet they can also grow out of control, creating deadly algal blooms.
"Extreme examples of how this could play out are the diatom community could disappear, and the other extreme is this community could completely overtake everything else," Westmoreland said in the Phys.org report.
How can the sucralose problem be addressed?
For starters, you can go easy on the Splenda. It's probably a good precautionary health move anyway, plus you won't be sending any more sucralose into your local water.
Then, try avoiding other uses of sucralose and more artificial ingredients by growing your own food, exploring plant-based options, or changing your grocery store habits.
Remember, you don't have to fully cut out a sweetener. It's an essential part of food, and some brands can lessen your impact on the environment even more, like this cane sugar alternative made from recycled plants.
As for the research, Schafer and Westmoreland are looking at the next steps, according to Phys.org. They hope to uncover more about these aquatic microorganisms and how they manage sucralose levels going forward.
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