Scientists find about a quarter million invisible nanoplastic particles in a liter of bottled water

By SETH BORENSTEIN
AP Science Writer

New research shows that the average liter of bottled water has nearly a quarter million invisible pieces of ever so tiny nanoplastics. Scientists long figured there were lots of these microscopic plastic pieces, but until researchers at Columbia and Rutgers universities did their calculations they never knew how many or what kind. Looking at five samples each of three common bottled water brands, researchers found levels ranged from 110,000 to 400,000 per liter. The study in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looks at particles less than a micron in size. There are 25,400 microns in an inch.