Microplastics in Water Bottles
This article first appeared in Jefferson High School’s print product, ‘The Booster,’ in March, 2024.
Walking the halls of Jefferson High School, there is plastic everywhere: wrapped around your food at lunch, holding your water in the vending machine, holding your mechanical pencil together, and all over your ThinkPad. There is so much plastic that nobody even thinks twice about it anymore. Plastic has been found in the deepest depths of the ocean, inside the human placenta, and inside soils in the forest.
The United States is the leading country in plastic use, with more companies opting to use cheap plastic instead of more expensive, sustainable materials. According to a paper released by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on Jan. 8, 2024, there is around 240,000 particles of “nanoplastics” in the average liter water bottle.
In 2018, a study conducted found 325 microplastics per plastic water bottle, yet now there is even more amounts of even smaller plastic. The difference between nanoplastics and microplastics is the size. Microplastics are small fragments of any type of plastic that is smaller than five mm. On the other hand, nanoplastics are extremely small fragments that are the result of the breakdown or disposal of plastic products. Nanoplastics are similar to debris. In PNAS’ paper, they claimed that nanoplastics to be more harmful because their “smaller size renders them much more amendable to enter the human body.”
PNAS has developed a “hyperspectral stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) imaging platform with an automated plastic identification algorithm that allows mirco-nano plastic analysis.” This allowed them to see the amount of plastic inside of these water bottles. Nanoplastics are mostly uncharted because most literature on the topic is constrained to microplastics, so this has been all about discovery.
These findings are anticipated to have significant impacts on human health in the long run because nanoplastics are so small that they can pass through human lungs and the gastrointestinal tract. After these tiny plastics enter the bloodstream, they can get everywhere throughout the body: heart, brain, and even the placenta.
Photo courtesy of Celiapratginestos, Wikimedia Commons.
Right now, it is not clear how nanoplastics will affect the body. There are few studies, and plastic usage has tripled within the past twenty years. Some research claims that the brain and DNA can be damaged, and also the immune, reproductive, and nervous systems. The future is uncertain, but changing these bad habits can only do good for humans and the planet.
Many people do not know the harm of the plastic water bottles, and if they do, it is just easier to use plastic water bottles. Junior Myles Sturgeon admits that he uses plastic water bottles often, even sometimes opting to use them over reusable ones. “The cheapest option is usually plastic, and at most places, plastic water bottles are just supplied,” Sturgeon discussed.
Junior Gabby McAtee is seen walking through the hallways with her reusable metal water bottle. She said that plastic water bottles “take forever to decompose,” and that they will forever “change the planet.” McAtee also said, “Many people know the harmful effects and that the water bottles shed plastic into the water, yet it is the convenience that makes people opt for plastic.”
The use of plastic use is slowly killing the earth and humans. The research is still new, yet the newer studies are finding more and more negatives to the constant plastic use.
