Large amounts of nanoplastics discovered in tap and bottled water

For the new study, the researchers used more advanced methods and obtained more plastic.

April 28, 2026 by will ask Leave a comment

by Shanna Hanbury

The amount of nanoplastics in US drinking water has been wildly underestimated. This is according to a new Study It found that the amount of plastic in both tap and bottled water was 10-100 times higher than previously estimated.

For the new study, the researchers used more advanced methods and obtained more plastic. “It’s like the difference between seeing stars with and without a telescope,” lead author Megan Jamison Hart, an environmental science researcher at Ohio State University, and her advisor, John Lenhart, professor of environmental engineering at the same institution, told Mongabay via email.

“Like stars, plastics are there in any way, but the analytical technique we used allows us to see much more than what previous studies have been able to measure, more like seeing stars with a telescope,” they added.

They also found that the concentration of nanoplastics — particles smaller than one micron, or one-thousandth of a millimeter — in bottled water was three times higher than in tap water. The overall concentration of micro and nano plastics (MNPs) was twice as high in bottled water compared to treated tap water.

Although microplastics in water have been extensively studied, research on nanoplastics is much more challenging and still poorly understood.

To analyze the drinking water, the researchers used a technique called optical photothermal infrared spectroscopy to determine the chemical composition of particles smaller than 500 nanometers, or 0.0005 millimeters, roughly the size of a large virus.

Then, paired with scanning electron microscopy, which uses a focused beam of electrons instead of light to image samples in extremely high detail, they were able to determine the size, shape and number of particles smaller than 300 nanometers.

“The results suggest that previous studies have underestimated the concentration of (micro and nanoplastic) particles in both treated tap and bottled water,” Jamieson added. Nanoplastics “accounted for 50% of the particles detected in both sample types.”

Little is known about the health effects of tiny bits of plastic in drinking water, and it’s difficult to study because the particles have become ubiquitous throughout our ecosystems and bodies. Plastic particles have been detected wherever scientists have looked for them — in brain tissue, bone marrow, lungs, the placentas, breast milk, the liver, Testis And the blood.

Some studies have also linked the presence of plastic Colon and lung cancer as well as Cardiovascular disease And Hormonal interference.

“Although we don’t fully understand the human health risks associated with nanoplastic exposure, it’s better to try to reduce those risks because the evidence suggests they cause problems, even if we’re not fully aware of them yet,” Hart said. statement.

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Previously published with news.mongabay Creative Commons Attribution

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