Bottled water contains more plastic particles than previously thought

Nanoplastics pose a greater threat to human health than microplastics because they’re small enough to penetrate human cells, enter the bloodstream, and impact organs. Nanoplastics can also pass through the placenta to the bodies of unborn babies

The findings from a new study show that bottled water could contain up to 100 times more plastic particles than previously estimated, as earlier studies only accounted for microplastics, or pieces between 1 and 5,000 micrometers

A typical one-litre bottle of water contains some 240,000 plastic fragments on average, according to a new study. Many of those fragments have historically gone undetected, the researchers determined, suggesting that health concerns linked to plastic pollution may be dramatically underestimated.

The peer-reviewed study, published on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to evaluate bottled water for the presence of 'nanoplastics' — plastic particles under 1 micrometer in length, or one-seventieth the width of a human hair.