I don’t know how to judge 90,000 microplastic particles as a quantity.
this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2025
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That's the fun thing about all this. Nobody knows. Is it much? Is it nothing? Is it dangerous? There is no people without microplastics in them, there is no way to have the control group for an experiement.
Everyone kinda suspects it can't be good, nobody has any fucking idea is it really
I mean they could set in relation to the absolute values. Does a person who doesn't drink bottled water ingests 100 or 100.000 particles?
Oh, that's measurable. What isn't exactly measurable is what ingesting whatever number of particles does to you
This made me wonder do uncontacted peoples have microplastics in them in large amounts like we all do? Like say the Sentinelese, for instance? I'm sure they do have some at least, despite them not using it, but maybe not nearly to the extent we do? This isn't me advocating for using uncontacted peoples for studies and so on, obviously that's not a moral way to go at all. Just a curiosity thing. If so, then if this is the huge ticking time bomb we suspect it might be then maybe we'll all die off and they'll be pretty much the only ones left. Maybe even unaware for the most part that we all died off. Yeah I'm just rambling at this point...
They definitely have less of those, but given that we've found microplastics in deep sea creatures, I wouldn't think they have a lot less
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From the article, this might help:
Sajedi reviewed over 140 scientific papers to determine the effects of plastic bottles on the human body. She found that people ingest an average of 39,000 to 52,000 microplastic particles per year from food and drinking water, and those who use bottled water on a daily basis ingest nearly 90,000 more microplastic particles into their bodies.
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every now and then, on days like this, I am reminded that some countries don't think potable water is a basic right for their citizens
People are making fun of me because I'm going out of my way to avoid plastics. "You've already been exposed to decades worth" and "You'll never avoid it all" and a bunch of other logical fallacies borne out of good old fashioned defeatism.
Crinkly thin water bottles are the worst, as are bottles that have been exposed to UV light, so if you HAVE to use bottled water try and find thick PET bottles and keep them out of the sun.
As someone who's worked on a millionaire's yacht that refused to drink anything besides a gallon of Fiji a day and produced more plastic waste than all of West Palm Beach combined, thanks. This is the sweetest slice of schadenfreude pie I've had all week 🥧
Ayyyyyy! RIP rich dude
I always thought it was funny (not haha) that bottlers use this relatively unstable plastic to create the bottles with which to store the water they sell.
This is why I donate blood. Gotta offload some microplastics.
Mexico City be in a spot.
Yeah, my entire country relies on bottled water. I can't drink from the tap. I need to buy carboys constantly because we can't really afford a water filter right now, and I doubt it'd come out as pure anyway. Of all the great things we do have, potable water for human consumption isn't one of them. *sad Mexican noises*
E: On the bright side, you may be able to get a glass carboy and fill it up at one of the new refilling centers that are popping up all around the city, so at least you have a say on the type of container you use and get your water all at a fraction of the price that Coke and Pepsi sell it for!
Good thing I only drink bottled soda
Apparently it's just as bad if not worse for most other mass-produced beverages, including glass-bottled (https://www.sciencenewstoday.org/glass-bottles-shed-more-microplastics-than-plastic-ones-surprising-french-study-finds) and aluminium-canned (which are all lined with plastic). In fact of the three, ironically plastic bottles were found to shed the fewest microplastics in this study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301479724037964
So buying things in glass or converting to cans makes no significant difference, and may make it worse. Plastic is everywhere in the manufacturing process (linings, filters, tubes, pipes). Soda and beer will not allow you to escape the microplastics problem.
If we could fast-forward to after the ground-shaking study that proves without a doubt that its incredibly bad for us, to the eventual 'plastic-free' manufacturing certifications that spring from it, that'd be swell. I'm thirsty.
That study did only look into microplastics above a certain size.
TL;DR: bottlecaps will shed some plastic
How bad is it compared to RO? The membranes, pipes, fittings are all plastic.
But my tap water has PFAS and lead...so I guess I get to pick my poison?
RO plant... Installed?
that's two orders of magnitude lower than being of significance. they're microplastics. i might end up with a centiplastic at most that way. call me when they figure out how to get a million more plastics
An under sink filter system has been one of my favorite small upgrades for my house. I always have a metal water bottle with me, and for longer times away I have a big metal half-gallon insulated jug.
Ya know, this really makes you think about the upper limit of plastic microparticles that can fit into a human asshole doesn't it?
considering my asshole is literal plastic, it's been reached
Cool, well I must have drank several thousand of these throughout my life before water bottles really became a thing, so no biggie I'm sure.
How about soda drinkers?
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