A newly published study has discovered that store-bought bottled water may contain significantly higher levels of plastic particles than previously believed, with an average of 240,000 plastic particles per liter across three brands.
What Happened: As per The Register report on Wednesday, the study, conducted by researchers at Columbia and Rutgers universities, used a groundbreaking technique called stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) to identify some of the tiniest plastic particles found in bottled water.
Their findings, which were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed an average of 240,000 plastic particles per liter of bottled water across three tested brands, with a range of 110,000 to 370,000 particles per liter. This figure is notably higher than previous estimates, which were believed to be 10 to 100 times lower.
It was also observed that approximately 90% of the particles identified using SRS were nanoplastics, with the remaining 10% being microplastics.
The study's lead author, Naixin Qian, explained the correlation between the size of plastic particles and their prevalence, saying, "It is not totally unexpected to find so much of this stuff."
Why It Matters: The study's methodology, despite providing crucial insights into the extent of plastic contamination in bottled water, has its limitations. The developed software could only account for approximately 10% of the total particles imaged using SRS, leaving room for organic, inorganic, and undetected plastic particles. The researchers are focusing on tuning SRS to detect non-plastic particles in water, with plans to analyze tap water, air samples, and biological tissues.
This study could potentially lead to a better understanding of the sources of microplastic contamination and the development of solutions to address this pressing environmental issue.