How plastic water bottles can affect your health – 02/01/2024 – Balance

The average bottle of water contains nearly a quarter of a million pieces of nanoplastic, according to new research published in January in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Measuring less than a micron, nanoplastics are often a tiny fraction, the size of a speck of household dust. A new imaging technique developed in the study showed that the number of nanoplastic particles in bottled water is between 10 and 100 times greater than previously estimated, says Wei Min, a biophysicist at Columbia University and co-author of the study.

“Millions of tons of plastic are produced around the world each year,” says Douglas Walker, an analytical chemist at Emory University who was not involved in the new research. Microscopic particles of these plastics can end up in food and drinks during the manufacturing process — they can be introduced through plastic tubes used in machines, for example — or they can be released through packaging, such as plastic bottles.

“If you think about the potential for their presence as environmental contaminants, it’s huge,” he says.

But while nanoplastics and slightly larger particles known as microplastics are increasingly being found in our food, drinks and even our bodies, their effects on our health are still unclear.

Here’s what we know so far and what you can do to reduce your exposure.

CAN NANOPLASTICS IN WATER HARM YOUR HEALTH?

Researchers still don’t have solid evidence of how these particles affect our health. Some small studies have found that they can cross the blood-brain barrier, enter the placenta and appear in our urine.

“But if a particular microplastic or nanoplastic is present in a tissue, that doesn’t necessarily mean it causes harm,” says Konstantinos Lazaridis, a gastroenterologist who studies the role of environmental factors in liver disease at the Mayo Clinic.

It’s possible that small pieces of plastic simply pass through most people’s bodies without causing much harm, Lazaridis says. Or it could be that these environmental particles only impact people who already have a genetic predisposition to diseases, he adds.

Some researchers have theorized that microplastics may be behind disease patterns that have not yet been explained by other causes, such as the rise in colorectal cancers among young people or the rise in Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. But the studies are far from conclusive.

Scientists who study microplastics and nanoplastics believe that “the smaller the particle size, the more dangerous it can be,” says Min. In other words, nanoplastics may have a greater impact on health than microplastics because there are more of them and because they can enter cells more easily.

A growing body of literature suggests that at least some additives and chemicals found in plastics can harm our health, Walker says. These include chemicals like bisphenol A, or BPA, which has been linked to increased blood pressure and type 2 diabetes; per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which can affect fertility; and phthalates, which can interfere with hormones.

But many other chemicals used to make plastics have not been studied for toxicity in humans. One study identified more than 10,000 unique compounds used in the manufacture of plastics and found that only a very small fraction had been evaluated for their potential health effects, says Walker.

Experts also need to better understand how quickly various plastic particles and additives enter our system, how much may need to accumulate to have an effect, and how long they remain.

HOW CAN YOU MINIMIZE YOUR EXPOSURE?

You may not be able to completely avoid nanoplastics or microplastics, but if you want to be cautious, you can take steps to reduce your exposure, says Walker.

Drink filtered tap water whenever possible. A filter with a pore size of one micron or less can help reduce microplastics in your water; Smaller micron pores will be better at filtering smaller particles. But you should make sure your filter isn’t made of plastic, says Walker. Instead, use ceramic or carbon filters certified by NSF International or the Water Quality Association.

When you’re on the go, consider using a glass or stainless steel bottle. But if you need to hydrate and only have access to a plastic water bottle, that’s fine, says Walker. You can minimize plastic degradation by keeping your bottle away from sunlight and heat.

If you want to reduce your exposure even further, Walker says to try limiting your use of other plastic products, like disposable food containers and shopping bags.