This headline from Science Daily: “Bottled Water Can Contain Hundreds of Thousands of Previously Uncounted Tiny Plastic Bits,” highlights a new study that found, on average, a liter of water from plastic water bottles contains some 240,000 detectable plastic fragments. That’s 10 to 100 times greater than previous estimates, which were based mainly on larger particle sizes, because this time they were assessing smaller nanoplastics.
Next, Consumer Reports tested nearly 100 foods and found that bisphenols and phthalates remain widespread in our food. Phthalates were particularly concerning, and found in high levels in almost every food they tested. Chemicals like these that leach into our food and water are known to contribute to endocrine disruption, metabolic disorders, changes in the intestinal microbiome, neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment, and they also create oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction.
One of the easiest ways to navigate this issue is to avoid foods packaged in plastic and opt for whole foods you can cook and store yourself in glass or stainless steel containers. And while using vessels like these for water is very important, so is a high-quality water filter to remove potential nano- and microplastics from your tap water.