For health reasons, we all want clean drinking water. When we were kids, we drank water directly from the faucet and even from shallow wells. As concern for pollution and water contamination grew, consumers now prefer water from refilling stations and commercially sold bottled water. Considering that we pay a premium for it, is bottled water clean?
With the availability of technology for detecting even the smallest contaminants in water, it seems that bottled water is not one hundred percent clean. A study in 2018 found microplastic particles in bottled water. Samples taken from 259 bottled waters sold in several countries showed that 93% of them contained “microplastic” synthetic polymer particles. Microplastics particles are those measuring between 1 micrometer (a millionth of a meter) and 5 micrometers. A human hair's width is typically 17-180 micrometers.
A more recent study which utilized advanced equipment found a much higher number of plastic particles. The study revealed that on average, a liter of bottled water contains roughly 240,000 tiny pieces of plastic. About 90% of these plastic fragments were nanoplastics, particles which are between 1 and 1,000 nanometers across. For comparison, an average human hair is roughly 80,000-100,000 nanometers wide.
The is another water contaminant that is more worrying than plastic particles. A study published recently in ACS ES&T Water, researchers from the University of Birmingham, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, and Hainan University, Haikou, found the presence of toxic 'Forever Chemicals' present in samples of drinking water from around the world.
Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals dubbed as “forever chemicals”, because they are extremely persistent, lasting thousands of years. These chemicals make certain products nonstick or stain resistant. It is used in food packaging like pizza boxes to make them grease-resistant or to make non-stick pans. Very small doses of PFAS increase the risk of a wide variety of health problems, including kidney and testicular cancer, liver problems, high cholesterol, and immunosuppression.
Researchers found 10 'target' PFAS chemicals in tap and bottled water available for consumption in major cities in the UK and China. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were detected in over 99% of samples of bottled water sourced from 15 countries around the world.
The study demonstrates that measures such as boiling and/or activated carbon can substantially reduce PFAS concentrations in drinking water, with removal rates ranging from 50% to 90% depending on the PFAS and treatment type. Boiling bottled water seems like a stupid thing to do. It is more practical and cheaper to boil tap water.
Now, is there such a thing as clean water? According to a research published in Environmental Science & Technology, even rainwater is contaminated with PFAS. The Stockholm University study found that levels of PFAS contamination are so persistent and widespread that even the most sparsely populated regions of the world, such as Antarctica and the Tibetan plateau, contained levels of PFAS that surpassed even the most “stringent” existing guidelines. According to the author of the study, there is nowhere on Earth where the rain would be safe to drink, according to the measurements that they took.
Now that’s frightening.