Monitoring Desk
NEW YORK: Bottled water can contain hundreds of thousands of tiny plastic particles, a study warns.
Nanoplastics — those broken down into progressively smaller bits — are consumed by people worldwide every day.
Health fears are growing as they can invade our bloodstream, organs and even individual cells.
Scientists using lasers on three brands of bottled water popular in the US found an average of 240,000 particles per litre.
They identified them down to a width of 100 nanometres — a thousand times thinner than a hair — but there could be even more smaller particles.
And they were only able to trace the origins of around ten per cent.
Report co-author Wei Min, of the University of Columbia, said: “Previously this was just a dark area, uncharted
“But there is a huge world of nanoplastics to be studied.
“The study of nanoplastics matters because, the smaller things are, the more easily they can get inside us.”
Water treatment expert Gene Fitzgerald said that certain types of water could be dangerous for animals because of the elements dissolved in it.
Gene, who works for Best Osmosis Systems, told The Mirror: “The UK is known for having some of the best tap water in the world.
“But that doesn’t mean that it is free from problems and if you live in an area with certain tap water, there’s a good chance that you might be poisoning your pets.
“In most places, tap water is perfectly fine for humans and animals to drink. But if you live in a hard water area, it may be making your pets ill.
“Hard water contains high levels of calcium and/or magnesium. For pets, this can be harmful.”
