A team of researchers has succeeded in identifying nanoplastics in bottled water that often escape analysis but have a clear impact on health and the environment. This work will make it possible to trace these tiny plastic residues.
The work was carried out by Columbia University and uncovered significant data. In particular, it was discovered that an average litre of bottled water contained 240,000 detectable plastic fragments. This number is 100 times higher than previous estimates that did not detect the presence of nanoplastics.
The search for plastics is carried out with two simultaneous lasers tuned to resonate specific molecules. Researchers tested three popular brands of bottled water by analysing plastic particles down to 100 nanometres and found 110,000 to 370,000 particles in each litre. Among the polymers was PET, the material from which the bottles are made.
These tiny fragments can pass through the intestines and the lungs directly into the bloodstream, travelling from there between the heart and the brain, and cross the placenta into unborn babies.
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