Plastics are a part of our everyday lives, and plastic pollution is a growing concern.

When plastics break down over time they can form smaller particles called microplastics which are 5 mm or less in length, smaller than a sesame seed! 

Microplastics can break down into even smaller pieces called nanoplastics, which are less than 1 μm in size. Unable to be seen with the naked eye, these are small enough to enter the body’s cells and tissues. 

Researchers found that on average a liter of bottled water included about 240,000 tiny pieces of plastic. About 90% of these plastic fragments were nanoplastics. This total was 10 to 100 times more plastic particles than seen in earlier studies, which mostly focused on larger microplastics. The water contained particles of all seven types of plastic.

The most common was polyamide, a type of nylon that’s often used to help filter and purify water. An abundance of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) was also detected. This might be expected, since PET is used to make bottles for water, soda, and many other drinks and foods. 

How often do you drink from water bottles? With a population of nearly 40 million in Canada, the amount of plastic waste generated from just water bottles or other drinks would amount to hundreds of millions over the course of a single year. 

Small changes can add up over time!