Bottled water may carry far more plastic than was thought. Columbia University scientists using a special laser technique found an average of about 240,000 plastic particles in a litre of bottled water, Indian Express Bangla reports. Earlier researchers had estimated around 5,000 particles per litre.
Most of the particles are nanoplastics, too small to be seen with the naked eye or even an ordinary microscope. The report says twisting the cap creates tiny plastic flakes from the friction between cap and bottle that fall into the water, and particles also enter during bottle manufacturing, filling and transport.
On the health risk, scientists say larger plastic particles pass through the digestive tract and leave the body, but nanoplastics can cross the gut wall into the bloodstream. How much harm they do over time as they travel in the blood and settle in tissues is still being researched, the report notes.
Photo: Midori / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Source: Indian Express Bangla
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