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Characteristics of nano-plastics in bottled drinking water.
Summary
Researchers detected nanoplastics in commercially bottled drinking water using novel nanoparticle analysis techniques, finding particles in the nanometer size range in multiple brands. These findings are concerning because nanoplastics are thought to be more biologically active than larger microplastics and can more easily cross biological barriers in the body.
Plastic pollution in water is threatening the environment and human health. Previous relevant studies mainly focus on macro and micro plastic pollutions and their characteristics. Little is known about the extent and characteristics of nano-scale plastics in our drinking water systems, mainly due to difficulties in their isolation and analysis. These nano-plastics may pose higher risk to human health than micro-plastics. Here we report the collection and analysis of organic nanoparticles from commercial bottled water of two brands. Novel nano-plastic particle imaging and molecular structure analysis techniques have been applied. The findings show the existence of organic nanoparticles, and a likely source has been identified to be the degradation of plastic water bottles.