The average liter of bottled water contains a quarter of a million pieces of microscopic plastic — and the researchers who made the discovery said that while it may not be dangerous, it has prompted them to reduce the amount of bottled water they drink.
Using laser microscopes, researchers analyzed samples of three brands of bottled water and found that a liter contained 110,000 to 400,000 pieces of plastic per liter.
That’s an average of about 240,000 miniature plastic particles, according to their findings, which were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Although the brands analyzed were not identified, lead study author Naixin Qian told NBC News that all three were common brands purchased at a large national retailer.
The authors of the study said that 90% of the plastic pieces are not microplastics, but nanoplastics, which are even smaller than microplastics, and are “believed to be more toxic because their smaller size makes them much more susceptible to entering humans compared to microplastics. body,” the study says.
A liter of bottled water contains an average of 240,000 pieces of plastic.
Getty
As the National Library of Medicine explains, “Microplastics (MP) are plastic particles less than 5 mm in diameter, while nanoplastics (NP) range in diameter from 1 to 100 or 1000 nm [nanometer].”
To put that size into perspective, one centimeter has 10 million nanometers.
The researchers believed the plastic came from the bottle itself, as well as from the filtration system used by water companies – which is meant to remove contaminants.
26 million people across the US have harmful ‘forever chemicals’ in their drinking water
Study co-author Phoebe Stapleton, a toxicologist, told NBC News that the potential health impact “is currently under consideration. We don’t know if and how dangerous it is.”
However, one study published in the National Library of Medicine says that “results from cell and animal experiments have shown that microplastics can affect various systems in the human body, including the digestive, respiratory, endocrine, reproductive and immune systems.”
That study also noted that “microplastics can cause chemical toxicity, which includes the absorption and accumulation of environmental toxins such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.”
Their findings prompted the researchers to say they are cutting back on bottled water: Stapleton told NBC News that she now relies on filtered tap water, and her colleague Wei Min, a chemist, said he has cut back on bottled water.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(700x176:702x178)/microplastics-011024-3-14711fbe39544334a685b60e70baac3a.jpg)
The impact of microplastics on health is still under consideration.
Getty
But as the study’s co-author, chemist Beizhan Yan, said, “there is no winning” since water filtration systems can introduce microplastics into the water supply.
Last August, microplastics were discovered in human heart tissue. And it’s been found that people inhale the equivalent of a credit card’s worth of microplastics per week, according to a June 2023 study published in US News and World Report.
Forever chemicals are found in popular supermarket foods — including brands like Annie’s Organic and Del Monte
“We know these microplastics are everywhere,” said Albert Rizzo, chief medical officer of the American Lung Association. National Geographic. “We don’t know if being in the body leads to problems. Duration is very important. How long you’re exposed is important.”
“In the meantime,” he asked, “can we make plastics safer?”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education