Plastic bottles are an ubiquitous fact of life in this day and age. But are they really good for you?
BOTTLED water is often seen as a clean and convenient alternative to tap, filtered or boiled water. However, as consumers grow more eco-conscious, concerns have been raised about the environmental impact of single-use plastic bottles.
Now, new revelations have also raised questions about the impact of bottled water on our health.
One of the main concerns surrounding bottled water is the presence of miniscule plastic particles and toxic compounds leaching from the plastic into our drinking water.
Is it true that there are long-term health risks to drinking bottled water?
Verdict:
POTENTIALLY TRUE
Recent research has shown that tiny particles of plastics are found in significant amounts in various bottled water brands at a rate higher than previously estimated.
These particles, termed nanoplastics, are so small that they cannot even be seen under a microscope – and crucially, they are small enough to penetrate through the tissues of our organs, migrating from our gut into the bloodstream and all throughout our body from there.
As cited by CNN, a 2024 study found an average of 240,000 plastic particles from seven types of plastics for every litre of water, of which 90% were identified as nanoplastics.
Nanoplastics are particles even smaller than microplastics that are measured in billionths of a metre.
"It’s not that we didn’t know nanoplastics existed. We just couldn’t analyse them," explained Sherri Mason, the director of sustainability at Penn State Behrend in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Since these discoveries are relatively novel, the risk of widespread exposure to nanoplastics are still being studied.
However, experts say nanoplastics hold even more worrisome implications for human health than microplastics as the former are more likely to be taken up by our body.
As for why we need to worry about the absorption of plastic particles in the first place, the main concern is that these particles have the potential to carry and deposit other synthetic compounds used in the manufacturing process into our cells and organs.
This includes, but is not limited to, endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as bisphenols, phthalates, flame retardants, per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), and heavy metals.
Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to a range of health issues and various chronic diseases.
According to Mason, they can even "make their way across the placental boundary (in pregnant women) and end up in an unborn child."
Even setting aside the health implications of drinking bottled water, all of us with the capacity to do so should be transitioning away from single-use plastic bottles – and single-use plastics in general – considering how terrible they are for the environment.
The eco-cost of bottled water is something health-conscious individuals are beginning to take into account, especially considering that the broader definition of health is expanding to include sustainable living practices.
Why not kill two birds with one stone by protecting your health and Mother Nature at the same time?
References:
1. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/
2. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/
3. https://iris.who.int/
4. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/
5. https://www.consumerreports.
