The discussion centers around a study suggesting that major bottled water brands are contaminated with plastic particles. Participants explore the implications of this contamination, its potential health risks, and the reliability of the study's findings. The conversation includes considerations of consumer habits, health concerns, and industry responses.
Participants do not reach a consensus on the health implications of plastic contamination in bottled water, with multiple competing views on the reliability of the study and the potential risks involved.
The discussion reflects varying assumptions about the health impacts of microplastics, the reliability of scientific studies, and the necessity of bottled water in certain regions. There are unresolved questions regarding the specific levels of contamination and their health effects.
Not many; you are likely to find particles from a container in the container.kyphysics said:What conclusions should we draw?
russ_watters said:Not many; you are likely to find particles from a container in the container.
Ygggdrasil said:Have they shown that the levels they detect in bottled water are associated with any health problems?
Just because you can detect something, doesn't mean it is harmful.
Experts cautioned that the extent of the risk to human health posed by such contamination remains unclear.
"There are connections to increases in certain kinds of cancer to lower sperm count to increases in conditions like ADHD and autism," said Mason.
"We know that they are connected to these synthetic chemicals in the environment and we know that plastics are providing kind of a means to get those chemicals into our bodies."
- Time to ditch plastic? . . .
However, representatives from the bottled water industry took issue with the findings, saying they were not peer-reviewed and "not based on sound science," according to a statement from the International Bottled Water Association.
"A recent scientific study published in the peer-reviewed journal Water Research in February 2018 concluded that no statistically relevant amount of microplastic can be found in water in single-use plastic bottles," it added.
"There is no scientific consensus on the potential health impacts of microplastic particles. The data on the topic is limited and conclusions differ dramatically from one study to another."
Jacqueline Savitz, chief policy officer for North America at Oceana, a marine advocacy group that was not involved in the research, said the study provides more evidence that society must abandon the ubiquitous use of plastic water bottles.