Daily Bottled Water Drinkers Ingest 90,000 Extra Microplastics Yearly
▼ Summary
– Sarah Sajedi was inspired to research plastic consumption after seeing a Thai beach polluted with plastic bottle debris.
– Her review found people ingest tens of thousands of microplastic particles yearly, with daily bottled water users ingesting nearly 90,000 more.
– Sajedi advises against daily use of plastic bottles due to potential chronic health risks, despite a lack of immediate effects.
– These micro- and nanoplastics, released during a bottle’s lifecycle, enter the bloodstream and can cause inflammation and organ damage.
– The long-term health impacts remain unclear due to insufficient testing and limitations in detection methods.
A visit to Thailand’s stunning Phi Phi Island offered Sarah Sajedi a jarring contrast. While the Andaman Sea presented a breathtaking vista, the white sand at her feet was littered with plastic waste, predominantly discarded bottles. This moment proved transformative for the environmental software cofounder, steering her toward academic research. Her long-standing interest in waste reduction crystallized into a focus on the root issue: consumption itself.
Pursuing a doctorate at Canada’s Concordia University, Sajedi conducted an extensive review of more than 140 scientific studies. Her analysis revealed a startling intake of plastic particles through our diets. The research indicates that individuals ingest between 39,000 and 52,000 microplastic particles annually from food and water sources. However, for those regularly consuming bottled water, the figure climbs dramatically. People who drink bottled water daily ingest an additional 90,000 microplastic particles each year, significantly increasing their total exposure.
Sajedi emphasizes that while plastic bottles serve a purpose in emergencies, they are unsuitable for everyday use. “We need to understand the potential for chronic harm,” she explains, noting that a lack of immediate symptoms does not equate to safety.
Microplastics are defined as plastic fragments measuring from one micrometer, a thousandth of a millimeter, up to five millimeters. Even smaller are nanoplastics, particles less than one micrometer in size. Invisible to the unaided eye, these particles are continually shed during a bottle’s lifecycle: manufacturing, storage, transportation, and as it degrades. Factors like sunlight, temperature fluctuations, and physical handling accelerate this release, especially from lower-quality plastics.
Unlike microplastics that accumulate in the food chain, particles from bottles are ingested directly with the water, posing a distinct pathway into the body. Once inside, these microscopic plastics can enter the bloodstream and travel to major organs. This invasion can provoke a persistent inflammatory response and subject cells to oxidative stress. Scientists associate these processes with potential disruptions to the hormonal and reproductive systems, nervous system damage, and links to certain cancers.
Despite these concerning mechanisms, the full scope of long-term health consequences remains uncertain. A significant barrier is the lack of extensive, long-term human studies and standardized, reliable methods for detecting these particles. Current analytical techniques present trade-offs; some can identify minuscule particles but fail to reveal their chemical makeup, while others excel at composition analysis but miss the smallest, potentially most invasive, nanoplastics.
(Source: Wired)
