1-litre bottles of packaged water have 2,40,000 pieces of tiny plastics, finds study

Nanoplastics present in packaged mineral water pose a greater threat to human health than microplastics because they're small enough to enter the bloodstream, and impact organs. (Image credit: Unsplash)

A typical one-liter bottle of packaged drinking water contains around 240,000 plastic fragments on average or up to 100 times more plastic particles than previously estimated, a new study has found. It suggested that health concerns linked to plastic pollution may be significantly underestimated because most of these fragments have earlier passed undetected.

Published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study -- conducted by researchers at Columbia University and Rutgers University -- is the first to evaluate bottled water for the presence of plastic particles less than 1 micrometer in length, also called "nanoplastics". A report in Bloomberg stated that earlier studies focused on only microplastics, or plastic pieces between 1 and 5,000 micrometers.

The researchers found 110,000 to 370,000 particles in each litre of packaged drinking water, according to the study, and about 90 percent of them were nanoplastics, while the rest were microplastics.

Nanoplastics pose a greater threat to human health than microplastics because they're small enough to enter the bloodstream, penetrate human cells, and impact organs. "Nanoplastics are believed to be more toxic since their smaller size renders them much more amenable, compared to microplastics, to enter the human body," the study stated. It added that these tiny particles of plastic can also pass through the placenta to the bodies of unborn babies.

The study also highlighted the dangers of toxicity arising from consuming these plastic fragments. " With engineered plastic particles with fluorescent dyes or metal labels, researchers have shown the possibility of nanoplastics crossing biological barriers and entering the biological systems, raising public concern on its potential toxicity," it stated.

Read more: IRCTC pantry staff charges Rs 20 for bottled water with MRP of Rs 15. Watch