It turns out there may be something in those store-bought bottles that’s worth worrying about as well.
Project Orb Media, a nonprofit, global journalism organization focusing on food, water, energy, health, education, environment, trade and governance, commissioned scientists at the State University of New York in Fredonia to analyze bottled water.
The brands tested were: 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) Wahaha (Hangzhou Wahaha Group) Preliminary tests found an average of 10.4 tiny plastic particles in each one-liter water bottle.
The research determined that Boxed Water, Evian, Fiji and Ozarka had the highest levels of plastic microfiber contamination.
“Although we don’t fully understand yet the health implications of consuming microplastic,” Abigail Barrows of Ocean Analytics told The Story of Stuff, “the preliminary results of this study show that people are directly ingesting plastic particles when drinking most types of bottled water.” Not Just Bottled Water Orb Media performed another study, again commissioning researchers from The State University of New York at Fredonia, testing drinking water from another source: taps.
More than 80 percent of the samples collected on five continents tested positive for the presence of plastic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched its own review of these recent findings.
A spokesperson stated that the organization is aware of this emerging area of concern even though there is not yet evidence of an effect on human health.
“As part of our continuous review of new evidence on water quality, we will review the very scarce available evidence with the objective of identifying evidence gaps, and establishing a research agenda to inform a more thorough risk assessment,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to the National Post.
BPA, a synthetic compound found in some plastics, has been shown to have possible effects on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children.

It turns out there may be something in those store-bought bottles that’s worth worrying about as well.
Project Orb Media, a nonprofit, global journalism organization focusing on food, water, energy, health, education, environment, trade and governance, commissioned scientists at the State University of New York in Fredonia to analyze bottled water.
The brands tested were: 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) Wahaha (Hangzhou Wahaha Group) Preliminary tests found an average of 10.4 tiny plastic particles in each one-liter water bottle.
The research determined that Boxed Water, Evian, Fiji and Ozarka had the highest levels of plastic microfiber contamination.
“Although we don’t fully understand yet the health implications of consuming microplastic,” Abigail Barrows of Ocean Analytics told The Story of Stuff, “the preliminary results of this study show that people are directly ingesting plastic particles when drinking most types of bottled water.” Not Just Bottled Water Orb Media performed another study, again commissioning researchers from The State University of New York at Fredonia, testing drinking water from another source: taps.
More than 80 percent of the samples collected on five continents tested positive for the presence of plastic.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched its own review of these recent findings.
A spokesperson stated that the organization is aware of this emerging area of concern even though there is not yet evidence of an effect on human health.
“As part of our continuous review of new evidence on water quality, we will review the very scarce available evidence with the objective of identifying evidence gaps, and establishing a research agenda to inform a more thorough risk assessment,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to the National Post.
BPA, a synthetic compound found in some plastics, has been shown to have possible effects on the brain, behavior and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children.

McGill says it currently sells about 85,000 plastic water bottles every year and thousands more are distributed at special events.
(Navneet Pall/CBC) Plastic water bottles will soon be a thing of the past at McGill, as the university plans to phase out the sale of bottled water on its campuses over the next 14 months.
Non-carbonated bottled water will no longer be sold in vending machines and anywhere food is sold on McGill’s downtown and Macdonald campuses by May 2019, the university said on Friday.
François Miller, director of the McGill Office of Sustainability, told CBC News he was "convinced" the move has popular support at the school.
He said McGill currently sells around 85,000 single-use, plastic water bottles every year and thousands more are distributed during special events.
(Navneet Pall/CBC) "We think that by phasing out those bottles over the course of the next 14 months, it will have a large impact on McGill’s sustainability in general," Miller said.
McGill says it will improve existing water fountains and build 25 new ones as part of the $150,000 project.
She said it will be great to have more water fountains on campus.
Sayeef Mohammed, a mechanical engineering student at McGill, said getting rid of plastic water bottles campus-wide is "a great initiative in trying to make [it] more sustainable."
Bottled water is "a luxury that is completely unnecessary," Mohammed told CBC News.

Researchers release a warning on plastics found in water bottles.
A recent study found that 93 percent of bottled water contained signs of contamination with microplastics.
More than just water However, it’s not just bottled water that health experts are worried about.
A number of industrial and consumer products made of plastic contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), which can negatively impact human health.
EDCs are chemicals found in a number of everyday products that can interfere with hormones.
Even in low doses, they can lead to a number of abnormalities in the body.
And that’s just one of many chemicals.
Affecting future generations A recent study by the Endocrine Society found that the impact of EDCs could extend beyond more than one generation by contributing to a significant drop in sperm count and sperm quality.
Researchers said this suggests prenatal exposure to DEHP can impact both fertility and reproductive capacity of more than one generation.
This, coupled with controversy surrounding the safe doses of various EDCs, has impacted the development of federal regulations and guidelines.

Photo source: Justin Sullivan Getty Images embed Plastic particles consumed by humans can travel through the gut without a trace; human body ‘very well-adapted in dealing with those non-digestible micro-particles’ WASHINGTON, D.C. (CN) – A new study led by a nonprofit journalism group found that more than 90 percent of several top brands of bottled water were contaminated with tiny pieces of plastic.
“A single bottle can hold dozens or possibly even thousands of microscopic plastic particles.
Tests on more than 250 bottles from 11 brands reveal contamination with plastic including polypropylene, nylon, and polyethylene terephthalate,” according to a release about the research by Washington, D.C.-based Orb Media.
The dyed water was then filtered through glass fiber.
“Some of the bottles we tested contained so many particles that we asked a former astrophysicist to use his experience counting stars in the heavens to help us tally these fluorescing constellations.
A few effectively had no plastic at all,” according to the study.
Research revealed a global average of 10.4 plastic particles per liter for particles in the 0.10 millimeter size range.
According to the study, Nestle conducted its own testing of six bottles from three locations following an inquiry from Orb Media and its head of quality Frederic de Bruyne said the results “showed between zero and five plastic particles per liter.” He also argued Professor Mason’s testing failed to include a step to remove biological substances, therefore “some of the fluorescing particles could be false positives – natural material that the Nile Red had also stained.” None of the other companies agreed to publicize their plastic contamination test results, according to Orb Media.
Others might get lodged into the intestinal wall or make their way through the body another way.
“Based on what we know so far about the toxicity of microplastics — and our knowledge is very limited on that — I would say that there is little health concern, as far as we know,” Martin Wagner, a toxicologist at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said in a statement.

The theme of this year’s World Water Day – marked annually on 22 March – is "Nature for Water", which, as the website of the United Nations Environment Programme informs us, "explores nature-based solutions (NBS) to the water challenges we face in the 21st century."
The challenges are clearly dire; as the UN notes, 2.1 billion people currently "lack access to safely managed drinking water services," while an estimated 1.8 billion "use an unimproved source of drinking water with no protection against contamination from human faeces."
But while the whole "NBS" campaign will no doubt generate handsome revenues for a UN system that specialises in self-enrichment, no solution to water or related challenges is possible within a global capitalist system that is itself destroying nature.
Oceans of pollution Let’s start with the 2.1 billion people reportedly lacking access to "safely managed drinking water services".
Play Video Play Mute 0:00 / 0:00 Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Stream TypeLIVE 0:00 Playback Rate 1x Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off, selected Subtitles undefined settings, opens undefined settings dialog captions and subtitles off, selected Audio Track Fullscreen This is a modal window.
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25:00 Even before this revelation, a report by the World Economic Forum had indicated that, if we continue with business as usual, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050.
Larger contexts In her 2013 book A Human Rights Manifesto, Julie Wark discusses the monetisation (read: neoliberal theft) of resources and rights, highlighting the role of the bottled beverage industry in environmental destruction -none of this damage will be reversed by planting trees or restoring wetlands.
But the only nature-based solution to capitalism is to get rid of it.

The theme of this year’s World Water Day – marked annually on 22 March – is "Nature for Water", which, as the website of the United Nations Environment Programme informs us, "explores nature-based solutions (NBS) to the water challenges we face in the 21st century."
The challenges are clearly dire; as the UN notes, 2.1 billion people currently "lack access to safely managed drinking water services," while an estimated 1.8 billion "use an unimproved source of drinking water with no protection against contamination from human faeces."
But while the whole "NBS" campaign will no doubt generate handsome revenues for a UN system that specialises in self-enrichment, no solution to water or related challenges is possible within a global capitalist system that is itself destroying nature.
Oceans of pollution Let’s start with the 2.1 billion people reportedly lacking access to "safely managed drinking water services".
Play Video Play Mute 0:00 / 0:00 Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% Stream TypeLIVE 0:00 Playback Rate 1x Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off, selected Subtitles undefined settings, opens undefined settings dialog captions and subtitles off, selected Audio Track Fullscreen This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window.
TextColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindowColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaque Font Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyProportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall Caps Reset restore all settings to the default valuesDone Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window.
25:00 Even before this revelation, a report by the World Economic Forum had indicated that, if we continue with business as usual, there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050.
Larger contexts In her 2013 book A Human Rights Manifesto, Julie Wark discusses the monetisation (read: neoliberal theft) of resources and rights, highlighting the role of the bottled beverage industry in environmental destruction -none of this damage will be reversed by planting trees or restoring wetlands.
But the only nature-based solution to capitalism is to get rid of it.

Tiny plastic particles were found in bottle water tested by the US non-governmental organisation Orb Media, the Sme daily wrote on March 20.
They were found in 259 bottles from 11 brands bought in 19 locations and tested in nine countries, regardless of the brand, even in Evian spring water (producer: Danone) from France, or Italy’s San Pellegrino (producer: Nestlé), which can be found on Slovak market.
Other tested brands include Aqua (Danone), Aquafina (PepsiCo), Bisleri (Bisleri International), Dasani (Coca-Cola), Epura (PepsiCo), Gerolsteiner (Gerolsteiner Brunnen), Minalba (Grupo Edson Queiroz), Nestlé Pure Life (Nestlé) and Wahaha (Hangzhou Wahaha Group).
In previous water quality tests, the NGO found tmicro-plastics in 83 percent of the 159 samples of water tested, from all over the world, including Slovakia.
Do they cause harm?
The harmfulness of micro-plastics has not been proven by any evidence, the BBC website wrote.
Apart from scrutinising its possible effects on the human body, there is one more question, according to Sme: where do the micro-plastics in bottled water come from.
“We are also interested in cooperating on the further improvement of the testing methodology.” Drinking water sources and oceans, too In September 2017, Orb Media published the results of a research that found that plastic micro-particles are present in potable water sources, including Slovakia.
More and more studies suggest that micro-plastics can be found in oceans, fresh water, air and soil.
The presence of micro-plastics in drinking water means that they are probably getting into other products in which the water is used, Sme summed up.

Dive Brief: According to a report from Orb Media, a nonprofit digital journalism organization based in Washington, D.C., 93% of 259 bottles of branded water it tested contained microscopic pieces of plastic.
The average across all brands was 325 microplastic particles per liter.
The study found a wide range of microscopic plastic particle levels across brands — and even varying levels within brands — which makes it hard to gauge the severity of these findings.
The report noted that most ingested microparticles, depending on size, could pass through the intestines and not cause problems, but that some could possibly migrate to the lymphatic system.
It added that little research has been done in this area and that some scientists view that factor as cause for concern.
These findings may not be a surprise to the waste industry, however.
Marine waste — and plastics especially — have been a hot topic for years, and the industry is well-aware of how much plastic winds up in waterways on a regular basis.
Plastics in water do break down overtime, creating the microplastic particles that Nestle and Coca-Cola said are common in the environment.
Canada’s environment minister, for example, recently declared she wants to build on a "zero-plastics-waste" charter, and British Prime Minister Theresa May wants her country to cut out all "avoidable" plastic waste in the next 25 years.
And it’s not just governments.

Major brands of bottled water have been found to contain tiny particles of plastic, according to a new study.
Orb Media, a non-profit journalism organisation based in Washington, D.C., conducted tests on 259 bottles from 11 leading brands, including Evian, San Pellegrino, Dasani, Nestle Pure Life and Aquafina, purchased from 19 location in nine countries.
The tests were conducted at the State University of New York in Fredonia, where researchers used a red dye called Nile Red, which absorbs to the surface of plastics, making them easier to see under infrared light.
The testing revealed 93 per cent of the bottle show microplastic contamination from a combination of polypropylene, nylon, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Of the 259 bottles tested, 17 had no particles.
Brands included in the study made aware that the results showed a far greater amount of microplastics in their bottles when compared to their own tests.
This is also what happens every time you microwave your food in a plastic container.
There’s also dangers to drinking prosecco out of a plastic cup.
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