Another Danger to Our Precious Bodily Fluids

(Image from Henkel.com)

Health experts are always telling us to drink more water. And if you want to minimize microplastics in your body, drink more from the tap and eschew bottled sources.

If you live somewhere with clean, safe tap water, relying less on bottled water is a great place to start reducing your plastics exposure, [Univ. of Victoria Dr. Kieran] Cox says.

Bottled water was such a big contributor of microplastics that the researchers did a separate analysis; when people drink their water only from bottled sources, they ingest about 90,000 microplastic particles every year from that water, but people who drink only tap water get 4,000 of such particles a year.

“It’s a 22-fold increase in plastic consumption from a single lifestyle choice,” Cox says. “With these kinds of issues, small choices can make a big impact for you personally and for plastic pollution.”

When out and about, plastic bottles of water are convenient, cheap, and sanitary. At home, however, a tall glass of iced water from the tap is quite pleasurable, and for me fewer microplastics tip the balance.

It also helps that the Foster City municipal water supply meets or exceeds "all primary drinking water standards set by the United States Environmental ProtecƟon Agency (USEPA) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH)."