a study surveying several brands in nine different countries has found that 90% of plastic bottles of water also contain microplastics.
concentrations of up to 10,000 plastic pieces including polypropylene, polystyrene, nylon or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) were found in every litre of water with very few bottles free of plastic altogether, according to the study.
scientists based at the state university of new york in fredonia were commissioned by journalism project orb media to analyse the bottled water.
the study found microplastics in 90 percent of 259 bottles of water tested.
the list of brands tested included aqua (danone), aquafina (pepsico), bisleri (bisleri international), dasani (coca-cola), epura (pepsico), evian (danone), gerolsteiner (gerolsteiner brunnen), minalba (grupo edson queiroz), nestlé pure life (nestlé), san pellegrino (nestlé) and wahaha (hangzhou wahaha group).
nestlè has since told CBS news Nestlé that the nile red dye-method of testing test the water could ‘generate false positives’.
according to the guardian, the world health organisation (WHO) has announced a review into the potential risks of plastic in drinking water following the report.
although the effects on humans from ingesting plastic are not 100 percent certain humans is still not 100 percent certain and is still an emerging area of study, a 2017 report notes: ‘if inhaled or ingested, microplastics may accumulate and exert localized particle toxicity by inducing or enhancing an immune response.
chemical toxicity could occur due to the localized leaching of component monomers, endogenous additives, and adsorbed environmental pollutants.
chronic exposure is anticipated to be of greater concern due to the accumulative effect that could occur.’

Researchers tested 250 bottles of water in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Thailand, and the United States.
"Widespread contamination" with plastic was found in the study, led by microplastic researcher Sherri Mason of the State University of New York at Fredonia, according to a summary released by Orb Media, a US-based non-profit media collective.
Researchers tested 250 bottles of water in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Thailand, and the United States.
"I think it is coming through the process of bottling the water.
On average, plastic particles in the 100 micron (0.10 millimeter) size range — considered "microplastics," — were found at an average rate of 10.4 plastic particles per liter.
Even smaller particles were more common — averaging about 325 per liter.
Other brands that were found to contain plastic contaminated included Bisleri, Epura, Gerolsteiner, Minalba and Wahaha.
"We know that they are connected to these synthetic chemicals in the environment and we know that plastics are providing kind of a means to get those chemicals into our bodies."
– Previous research by Orb Media has found plastic particles in tap water, too, but on a smaller scale.
"It’s more urgent now than ever before to make plastic water bottles a thing of the past."

FLINT, Mich. — Recent water tests at elementary schools in Flint have found an increase in samples showing lead levels above the federal action limit.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality determined that 28 samples tested in February were above 15 parts per billion of lead, The Flint Journal reported .
That compares to 20 such samples in January.
The overall results are encouraging because they meet federal guidelines for lead if treated like samples collected by municipal water systems, Krisztian said.
The city’s chief public health adviser and director of public works are working with department representatives, public health officials and researchers to review the data, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said.
“I am convinced that these test results prove additional work and investigation is needed to determine the source (or sources) of the lead, and what actions must be taken to address and resolve the problem, once and for all,” Weaver said.
State-funded bottled water will likely continue to be supplied until all lead and galvanized service lines have been replaced, Weaver said.
State officials are expected to conduct another round of testing this month.
The department will then make recommendations for how the state can help Flint moving forward.
___ Information from: The Flint Journal, http://www.mlive.com/flint Copyright 2018 The Associated Press.

"It is evident that the state-supported bottled water programs are still a critical resource for a large number of Flint residents, with bottled water being used for a variety of daily tasks," says the survey report titled, "From Crisis to Recovery: Household Resources."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has warned of the potential for particulate lead releases from transmission pipes into the water supply in Flint because of the widespread underground digging for service lines.
Too many people have come to rely on bottled water and too few feel comfortable changing water faucet filters, don’t have a filter installed, or don’t have running water at all, Villarreal said.
Of those surveyed, 15 percent did not have a faucet filter in their homes and another 5 percent who have a filter either wait six months or longer to change the cartridge or don’t change it at all.
When asked how confident they were in replacing filter cartridges, about 36 percent ranked their confidence level between "not at all" confident to "somewhat confident," according to the survey.
"The only information collected has been the number of door knocks and the number of conversations, suggesting that resident confidence in filter use isn’t a priority."
Slightly less than 10 percent of respondents said they are using bottled water to flush their toilets, an indication that they might not have any running water in their home, Villarreal said.
Taken in December, the survey was proposed and developed by work groups and service providers that operate as a part of the Flint Action Coordination Team, a group organized by Weaver with guidance from the Greater Flint Health Coalition.
70 percent of those who answered the survey reported not knowing the composition of their service line.
"Not knowing the level of lead in their own water, residents may err on the side of caution, choosing to trust bottled water more than filtered tap water," the report says.

This article originally appeared on Alternet.
Bottled Water: An Overpriced Pollutant The new Food & Water Watch report Take Back the Tap: The Big Business Hustle of Bottled Water details the deceit and trickery of the bottled water industry.
Here’s one more angle to consider: The bottled water business is closely tied to fracking.
Besides being a rip-off, there is plenty more to loathe about the corporate water scam: The environmental impacts from pumping groundwater (especially in drought-prone areas), the plastic junk fouling up our waterways and oceans, and the air pollution created as petrochemical plants manufacture the materials necessary for making those plastic bottles filled with overpriced tap water.
There’s also the matter of whether we should be putting our drinking water in those bottles in the first place: The most common packaging (polyethylene terephthalate, or PET) includes compounds like benzene, and the bottles can leach toxins like formaldehyde and acetaldehyde.
Many of the raw materials used to create those plastic bottles come from fracking.
To do this, massive “dragon ships” carry ethane from the United States to its facilities in Europe.
Getting more ethane means Ineos can turn more of those hydrocarbons into plastic, with the accompanying industrial pollution and carbon emissions we have come to expect from a company that has amassed a horrendous environmental record.
It robs communities of a resource that is a public good and must be treated as one, and it relies heavily on dirty fossil fuels to produce and transport a product that it sells at an extravagant markup.
It rakes in billions of dollars while our public tap water infrastructure—that these companies benefit from—remains in desperate need of federal funding to provide all Americans with access to clean, affordable drinking water.

The Drakenstein municipality received 17568 five- litre bottles of water, thanks to a donation by Gift of the Givers who delivered water relief distribution in Paarl on Tuesday.
The humanitarian organisation delivered the water with four trucks.
It was approached for help by the Western Cape Provincial Disaster Management over the past weekend.
Gift of the Givers founder,Imtiaz Sooliman, said the water would be distributed to communities that live along the Berg River.
“While there are alternative sources of water, some of these communities have already been unable to get water from their taps since February.
"There must be a careful distinction between the drinking water and alternative sources for irrigation and sanitation, and if the water supply meets the needs of the communities,” said Sooliman.
On Tuesday, he said delivery of bottled water, totalling 112 pallets, was the first of one million bottles to be delivered to the region.
The Drakenstein Municipality implemented Level 6B water restrictions, allowing 50 litres of water a person a day and increased water tariffs since February 16, with the Berg River dam estimated at 49.0% on Tuesday.
Drakenstein Municipality spokesperson Riana Geldenhuys said the municipality welcomed the assistance of the NGO.
“Should the area run out of existing surface water, the municipality will be able to immediately switch over to groundwater sources.

TIME Health For more, visit TIME Health.
(FLINT, Mich.) — Recent water tests at elementary schools in Flint have found an increase in samples showing lead levels above the federal action limit.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality determined that 28 samples tested in February were above 15 parts per billion of lead, the Flint Journal reported.
That compares to 20 such samples in January.
The increase may be due to changes in testing conditions, such as the decision to collect samples before flushing lines, said George Krisztian, a department spokesman.
The overall results are encouraging because they meet federal guidelines for lead if treated like samples collected by municipal water systems, Krisztian said.
The city’s chief public health adviser and director of public works are working with department representatives, public health officials and researchers to review the data, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said.
“I am convinced that these test results prove additional work and investigation is needed to determine the source (or sources) of the lead, and what actions must be taken to address and resolve the problem, once and for all,” Weaver said.
State-funded bottled water will likely continue to be supplied until all lead and galvanized service lines have been replaced, Weaver said.
State officials are expected to conduct another round of testing this month.

Last night city officials heard from Nancy Carswell and the Council of Canadians, who urged the city to take the final step by banning the sales of bottled water at city facilities and events when tap water is available.
“It is not acceptable that bottled water drains us of 2,000 times the energy of tap water.” While all council members agreed on the negative environmental impacts of bottled water, they were hesitant to ban its sale.
Lennox-Zepp proposed examining the costs of a portable tap water station for outdoor events, and Botha requested a report on the inventory of facilities with water refill stations, to learn more about the financial implications of banning bottled water sales.
After a contentious debate, their proposals were struck down in a 4-4 vote.
Ward 5 Coun.
He said it was not the city’s place to ban everything and he would rather see the city offer healthy alternatives, though he noted any significant changes would come with a cost.
“This is [just] check off the box, easy fix and feel good about ourselves and move on.” Ward 1 Coun.
Charlene Miller, who helped usher in the refillable water stations at city facilities, said she did not agree with only selling pop and energy drinks at city-owned concessions.
"If bottled water is sitting there and that is all the choice they have for nutrition, I believe that should be there.” Mayor Greg Dionne said he could not support any motion that dealt with bottled banning water sales until there was reform on the detrimental health effects of selling energy drinks to young people.
If the city banned bottled water at its facilities, he said residents would just bring their own.

Paul Aiken / Staff Photographer) About 100 Nederland homes have been without water since Friday, and could be without water for a couple more days.
Nederland public works crew began digging on Monday morning to a depth of 9 feet in order to reach the water main break.
Town Administrator Karen Gerrity said that they wouldn’t know how long repairs would take until they reached the pipes.
"Once they have an idea of where the break is and how it happened and what parts they will need to replace, we will have a better idea of how long it will take," Gerrity said.
While working on the problem, the Nederland Community Center is passing out cases of bottled water and allowing anyone to fill up containers.
Nicole Cavalino, Nederland’s town clerk, estimates 75 cases of bottled water had been given out as of Monday morning, while some residents filled up empty water jugs.
"Our town is doing the work," Cavalino said.
Paul Aiken / Staff Photographer) Laura King, one of the residents without water, hauled several empty jugs to the community center to fill up on Monday morning.
John Toland, another resident stopping by the community center to fill up jugs, cited the inability to shower as being one of the most inconvenient consequences of the situation.
Nicole Ferdinandsen, with the Public Water Works Department, said that crew members noticed water pooling around the roundabout in the center of town on Sunday.

State employees working in the Albany office building that’s the tallest in upstate New York are drinking bottled water after a chemical used in mothballs was detected in water samples.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – State employees working in the Albany office building that’s the tallest in upstate New York are drinking bottled water after a chemical used in mothballs was detected in water samples.
The Office of General Services says trace amounts of naphthalene were found in samples taken from faucets inside the 44-floor Corning Tower, located on the Empire State Plaza in downtown Albany.
OGS, headquartered in the tower along with the health department, says the amounts were well below the state and federal drinking water standard for naphthalene.
The tests were conducted Friday after workers complained the water from sinks and fountains was cloudy and had an odor.
OGS is supplying bottled water for workers.
The agency says it’s looking into whether work being done on several water tanks led to the problem.
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