Bottled water contains 100 times more plastic particles than previously thought

Chaque litre d'eau contient entre 110 000 et 370 000 particules, dont 90% de nanoplastiques. ILLUSTRATION MAXPPP

According to a new study published this Monday, January 8, bottled water contains hundreds of thousands of plastic particles per liter. Researchers report a concentration of nanoplastics a hundred times higher than previously estimated.

If you're not a fan of tap water, this new study might make you rethink your water consumption. According to a study published this Monday, January 8 in the American scientific journal PNAS, water in plastic bottles contains up to 100 times more tiny plastic particles than previously estimated.

Lasers to analyze water

Using a new technique using lasers, researchers tested water from several popular brands and counted an average of 240,000 plastic fragments detectable per liter of water.

"If people are worried (…), it is reasonable to consider alternatives, such as tap water", underlines Beizhan Yan, co-author of the ;#39;study. The latter specifies, however, that researchers are not calling for a total boycott of plastic bottled water when the need arises "because the risk of dehydration may be greater than the potential consequences of exposure to nanoplastics."

90% nanoplastics

The results of the study show that each liter of water contains between 110,000 and 370,000 particles, including 90% nanoplastics, the rest being microplastics. The most common type found was nylon (probably from plastic filters used to purify water), followed by polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the material the bottles are made from.

Nanoplastics, which are less than one micrometer (5,000 micrometers for microplastics), due to their very small size, can enter the blood system and therefore into organs, including the brain and heart. Research on their consequences on ecosystems and human health is still limited, but some studies have already highlighted harmful effects, for example on the reproductive system.

Lower quantities in tap water

If the tests were carried out on three popular water brands, the names of which were not revealed, all the bottles would be equally affected according to the authors of the study .

Researchers hope in the future to test tap water, which also contains microplastics, but apparently in smaller quantities.