People are swallowing hundreds of thousands of microscopic pieces of plastic each time they drink a liter of bottled water, scientists have shown — a revelation that could have profound implications for human health.
A new released Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found about 240,000 particles in the average liter of bottled water, most of which were “nano plastics” — particles measuring less than one micrometer (less than one-seventieth the width of a human hair).
For the past several years, scientists have been looking for “microplastics,” or pieces of plastic that range from one micrometer to half a centimeter in length, and found them almost everywhere. The tiny shards of plastic have been uncovered in the deepest depths of the ocean, in the frigid recesses of Antarctic sea ice and in the human placenta. They spill out of laundry machines and hide in soils and wildlife. Microplastics are also in the food we eat and the water we drink: In 2018, scientists discovered that a single bottle of water contained, on average, 325 pieces of microplastics.
But researchers at Columbia University have now identified the extent to which nanoplastics also pose a threat.
“Whatever microplastic is doing to human health, I will say nano plastics are going to be more dangerous,” said Wei Min, a chemistry professor at Columbia and one of the authors of the new paper.
Reverse Osmosis systems in your home are your best bet to avoid these contaminants. Whole home carbon filtration and water conditioner will give you safe water for cooking, cleaning, and bathing. You will be doing your part to protect the environment as well, no longer contributing to the billions of plastic bottles being dumped and preventing contamination of your local groundwater in your washing machine runoff.
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