Several years ago, we shared a post about a study that revealed over 93% of tested bottled water contained microplastics. On average, 325 pieces of microplastics were found in a liter of bottled water. It’s since become a well-known concern and has led to consumers making a shift towards more sustainable options to avoid exposure to microplastics. Yet the bottled water industry is still growing, with the U.S. leading the pack of countries that most heavily consume the product. Set to bring in over $100B this year alone, it doesn’t appear as though health concerns have slowed down the industry in any fashion. This year another study has revealed another concerning layer to the discussion about what’s actually in bottled water.
Philipp Schwabl, a researcher at the Medical University of Vienna who led one of the early studies surrounding microplastics said: “The smallest microplastic particles are capable of entering the bloodstream, the lymphatic system, and may even reach the liver. Now that we have the first evidence for microplastics inside humans, we need further research to understand what this means for human health.” Since then, evidence shows that there may be a link to the obesity epidemic and in other metabolic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as cancer and reproductive problems and neural problems like attention deficit disorder.
Now what if we told you that the latest study revealed that there could actually be much more than the already alarming amount of microplastics previously found in bottled water? Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Columbia University and Rutgers University found roughly 240,000 detectable plastic fragments in a typical liter of bottled water. About 10% of the detected plastic particles were microplastics, and the other 90% were nanoplastics. Microplastics are between 5 millimeters to 1 micrometer; nanoplastics are particles less than 1 micrometer in size. For context, a human hair is about 70 micrometers thick.
The danger of nanoplastics is that “the smaller [particles become], the easier for it to be misidentified as the natural component of the cell,” says Wei Min, a professor of chemistry at Columbia University and one of the study’s co-authors. The study utilized a technology involving two lasers called stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy to detect the particles and used machine learning to identify them. In response to the study, an association that represents bottlers and distributors in the U.S. and abroad, The International Bottled Water Association, stated, “[there is] no scientific consensus on the potential health impacts of nano- and microplastic particles.” It added, “media reports about these particles in drinking water do nothing more than unnecessarily scare consumers.”
The wide-spread manufacture of plastics didn’t start until the 1960s, with the concern surrounding microplastics being much more recent (roughly 2004), and it hasn’t been until even more recently that technology has even existed to detect the smallest of these particles. But as the research landscape evolves, so does the availability of information about the potential harm to humans, animals, and the environment. Ongoing exploration of the topic shouldn’t be translated into it being a benign, non- issue.
Sources share that while plastic will break into smaller and smaller particles via photo-oxidative mechanisms, the fundamental molecular structures of the material change very little throughout that process. Plastics become microplastics become nanoplastics, but they are all plastics, just of increasingly smaller size, allowing them to be more easily ingested and perhaps even cross the gastrointestinal tract to be transported throughout a living organism.
The tiny pieces of plastics can now be found in an alarmingly wide range of places from freshwater lakes, the ocean, soil, agriculture, and aquatic animals. Microplastics have also been found in human saliva, head hair, and feces, pointing to the reality that we are all exposed to and consume microplastics regularly. The National Capital Poison Center (based out of Washington D.C., and is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, not a government agency) explains, “While some studies suggest that microplastics might affect inflammation, cellular survival, and metabolism in humans, the true health risks of microplastics remain poorly understood. Even though microplastics are known to enter the human body, scientists still don’t know how the body absorbs, metabolizes, or eliminates these particles, and the exact dose of microplastics needed to cause disease remains unknown.”
A draft report (read here) on microfiber (microfibers are a type of microplastic) pollution from the EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that microfibers “have the potential to impact human reproductive, respiratory, digestive, nervous, and urinary systems”. Initial studies have linked microplastics, including microfibers to cancers and hormone disruption.
While consumer interest and concern has largely fueled the conversation about microplastics, there is currently only one federal regulation targeting microplastics in consumer products: the Microbead-Free Waters Act. It prohibits the manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of rinse-off cosmetics and non-prescription drugs containing added plastic microbeads (body washes, toothpaste, etc). California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, and Wisconsin have passed bills restricting the manufacture and sale of products that contain microbeads.
Chemicals used to manufacture plastics, like BPA, PFAS and more, are well-known to cause harm to humans. PFAS, for example, can be linked to cancer, reproductive and immune system harm, and other diseases. BPA is widely regulated (but not always banned under certain uses) in the U.S. and other countries as a result of research starting in the 1990s associating BPA with development and functionality damage to the human hormone system, brain, and reproductive organs. Yet regulation of micro and nano plastics containing these chemicals (and others) is lagging, resulting in significant human exposure to these particles by methods including inhalation, absorption through the skin, consuming foods containing the particles, and ingested through water. That’s in addition to the impact to animals and the environment.
More needs to be done. One way to help reduce the prevalence of plastic micro particles is to limit or eliminate using plastics in our day-to-day life. Choose options like reusable shopping bags, utensils, dishes, bottles, storage containers, etc. While recycling is a great habit, some research has found that recycling plastics can actually release a large amount of microplastics, meaning the best option may be to push for limited manufacturing of plastics altogether. Choose materials like glass, natural fibers, and high-quality stainless steel whenever possible and encourage those close to you to do the same.
Reach out to your local representatives and start the conversation on what can be improved in your area. Find more ideas here on how to be a part of the solution.
-https://www.npr.org/2024/01/10/1223730333/bottled-water-plastic-microplastic-nanoplastic-study
-https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/non-alcoholic-drinks/bottled-water/united-states#:~:text=In%202024%2C%20the%20revenue%20in%20the%20Bottled%20Water,the%20Bottled%20Water%20market%2C%20with%20US%24100.2bn%20in%202024.
-https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2300582121
-https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fchem.2018.00407/full
-https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X15002581
-https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0043135417309272
-https://www.poison.org/articles/are-microplastics-harmful
-https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19069-1
-https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/etc.3408
-https://www.compliancegate.com/bisphenol-a-regulations-united-states/
-https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01143-3
-https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/cosmetics-laws-regulations/microbead-free-waters-act-faqs
-https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/microplastics-long-legacy-left-behind-plastic-pollution
-https://www.ramboll.com/insights/biodiversity-and-ecosystems/mitigating-microplastics-in-products-how-to-reduce-risk-and-meet-regulations#:~:text=Microplastic%20regulations%20in%20the%20United%20States%20To%20date%2C,the%202015%20Federal%20Food%2C%20Drug%2C%20and%20Cosmetic%20Act.
-https://www.commondreams.org/news/epa-regulation-on-microplastics
-https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/23/recycling-can-release-huge-quantities-of-microplastics-study-finds
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