Plastic Particles Found in Bottled Water
Referenced article: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43388870
Tests on major brands of bottled water have found that nearly all of them contained tiny particles of plastic.
In the largest investigation of its kind, 250 bottles bought in nine different countries were examined.
Research led by journalism organisation Orb Media discovered an average of 10 plastic particles per litre, each larger than the width of a human hair.
Companies whose brands were tested told the BBC that their bottling plants were operated to the highest standards.
The tests were conducted at the State University of New York in Fredonia.
Sherri Mason, a professor of chemistry at the university, conducted the analysis and told BBC News: “We found [plastic] in bottle after bottle and brand after brand.
“It’s not about pointing fingers at particular brands; it’s really showing that this is everywhere, that plastic has become such a pervasive material in our society, and it’s pervading water – all of these products that we consume at a very basic level.”
Currently, there is no evidence that ingesting very small pieces of plastic (microplastics) can cause harm, but understanding the potential implications is an active area of science.
Commenting on the results, Prof Mason said: “It’s not catastrophic, the numbers that we’re seeing, but it is concerning.”
That is just an excerpt from the article. It’s a good article, worth reading the whole thing, but generally what they are saying is that they found plastic in bottled water from all different brands, and at varying levels even within cases of water from the same company. Further into the article they go into more detail on the type of plastic found, and the amounts. One of the interesting findings was that Polypropylene, which is used in making the bottle caps, was the most abundant plastic in the water. The researchers proposed that this could possibly be from particles falling into the bottle when it’s first opened.
This study falls in line with the documentary, Unacceptable Levels, you’ll hear us often reference which talks about the high levels of chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis. The scary thing about this type of information is that there really isn’t much we can do about it because it’s so prevalent. You might think, well this is an easy one, just avoid drinking out of plastic bottles. I think this is good idea for a few reasons but further into the study you’ll also read Last year, Prof Mason found plastic particles in samples of tap water and other researchers have spotted them in seafood, beer, sea salt and even the air.
Its everywhere. So what to do. There’s plenty of things in our environment that effect us that we have no control over. However there are plenty of things we have absolute control over. This becomes more and more important as our world becomes more toxic. This is why pursuing health is so crucial, pursue clean eating the best we can, pursue exercise, and pursue an optimal nervous system and have faith that the pursuit of these things we do have control over will set us up to better deal with those things we can’t control.
Dr. Mark