Study finds side effects of drinking from plastic water bottles grossly underestimated: ‘Not something that should be used in daily life’

At this point, the dangers of single-use plastic are well-documented, but Phys.org recently reported that an expert believes water bottle-related risks to human health remain “dangerously understudied.”

What’s happening?

Sarah Sajedi devoted her career to addressing plastic waste after a visit to Thailand’s Phi Phi Islands, where she noticed an immense amount of debris on its shores.

“I was standing there looking out at this gorgeous view of the Andaman Sea, and then I looked down and beneath my feet were all these pieces of plastic, most of them water bottles,” she recalled.

Sajedi immediately focused on consumption as the core of the problem, and the risks associated with single-use water bottles were the focus of her recent study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials.

In the paper’s abstract, Sajedi and her co-authors emphasized that plastic water bottles have become “ubiquitous” worldwide, highlighting a growing body of research on the adverse effects of nanoplastics and microplastics on human health.

The authors reviewed 141 scientific articles to gather information about the scope of microplastic ingestion and associated health outcomes. Their findings were striking.

Across dozens of studies, Sajedi and her co-authors found that the average person might ingest between 39,000 and 52,000 plastic particles each year, “with bottled water consumers ingesting up to 90,000 more particles than tap water consumers.”

The conclusion Sajedi drew from their robust review of the data was equally concerning.

“Drinking water from plastic bottles is fine in an emergency, but it is not something that should be used in daily life. People need to understand that the issue is not acute toxicity — it is chronic toxicity,” she warned, meaning the dangers are primarily from extended regular use of beverages in plastic bottles that can add up over time.

It’s worth noting that none of this is advising against drinking water. As the International Bottled Water Association recently told The Cool Down when another study also linked bottled water to microplastics, “with the high rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease in our on-the-go society, bottled water provides a safe, healthy, and convenient beverage choice” and “discouraging people from choosing this healthy drink option is not in the public interest.”

Of course, that organization has a vested interest in promoting bottled water, but the points are valid for water in general, even if bottled water itself has no nutritional benefit over other water and merely adds a risk for microplastic exposure along with adding to the world’s massive plastic pollution problem.

Why are these findings so important?

Sajedi and her co-authors conducted a meta-analysis rather than focusing on a single study, collating findings from over 140 reviews.

Consequently, the data the authors reviewed demonstrated a consistent link between plastic ingestion and adverse human health outcomes across studies.

Despite a clear pattern of risk in the material reviewed, the authors cited “critical gaps in the literature” concerning single-use plastic water bottles specifically, which is worrisome due to their widespread use.

The authors noted that extant research identified “respiratory diseases, reproductive issues, neurotoxicity, and carcinogenicity” among the chronic conditions and health impacts associated with exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics.

Unrelated research has identified microplastic contamination in the deepest ocean trenches, in soil, and in virtually uninhabited places, such as Antarctica.

What’s being done about single-use plastics?

“Education is the most important action we can take,” Sajedi told Phys.org.

Although single-use plastic is “ubiquitous,” replacing your most used plastic items is one way to reduce your direct exposure to plastic contamination daily.

Using less plastic overall is another way to limit microplastics at home and in the ecosystem.

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