Skip down the brain part, that's super freaky.
Water bottle caps... each TWIST makes about 500 microplastic particles. Don't rescrew it on. And probably dont put your lips on the shreds, eh?
Use tap water or best is filtered water when at all possible... wwaaaaay less plastic particles.
https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2024/02/427161/how-to-limit-microplastics-dangers
A microplastics researcher in California, Laura Lopez Gonzales, she seems a little on the extreme side, but some good info and the site/lady says:
Why microplastics bad? Her Answer: Chemicals like BPA, phthalates and PFAS can mimic human hormones.... My comment: Well we know this, but not all plastics put out BPA and PFAS... of course new chemicals pop up all the time. But the brain being full of random plastic particles is extra freaky even if they don't emit BPA or PFAS (she doesn't address this in her write up).
How do you try to avoid microplastics and other toxins in your family’s food?
says: I don’t microwave in plastic. Years ago, I put my kids’ plastic baby bottles in the microwave to warm up milk because I, like so many people, just thought everything I bought at the store was safe for all uses. Now, because of my research, I would never do that. Heat makes plastic release harmful chemicals like BPA so I always microwave in ceramic or glass – that’s a really easy one. My Comment: supposedly some plastics don't have PBA or PFAS, so maybe some are OK to heat in the microwave. The general rule from the other place was, if it is slated as "safe for Microwave" then it shouldn't be killing you.
I have a glass water bottle to avoid buying plastic water bottles. Steel water bottles are also a good choice. My comment: Again, some brands swear they dont have bad PFAS and stuff... so is this overkill?? in the other article says 240,000 microplastic particles per liter of bottled water. So... what kinds of plastic or do they even know (probably a mishmash of all of it is the biggest worry I guess).
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/21/microplastics-brain-pollution-health
says "‘Pretty alarming’
In one of the latest studies to emerge – a pre-print paper still undergoing peer review that is posted online by the National Institutes of Health – researchers found a particularly concerning accumulation of microplastics in brain samples.
An examination of the livers, kidneys and brains of autopsied bodies found that all contained microplastics, but the 91 brain samples contained on average about 10 to 20 times more than the other organs. The results came as a shock, according to the study’s lead author Matthew Campen, a toxicologist and professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of New Mexico.
The researchers found that 24 of the brain samples, which were collected in early 2024, measured on average about 0.5% plastic by weight.
“It’s pretty alarming,” Campen said. “There’s much more plastic in our brains than I ever would have imagined or been comfortable with.” "
https://time.com/6553165/microplastics-in-bottled-water-study/
says "the authors detected an average 240,000 plastic fragments per liter of bottled water. ... Approximately 90% of the particles were considered nanoplastics, which, as the name implies, are smaller than 1 micrometer. Unlike microplastics, nanoplastics are capable of passing through the intestine and lungs into the bloodstream. From there they can lodge in the heart muscle and other organs, pass the blood-brain barrier into the brain, and even into the bodies of unborn infants by crossing the placenta. "
"Not surprisingly, one of the most common nanoplastic types in the three popular brands of bottled water tested (the scientists did not name the brands) was polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which is the plastic most commonly used in the bottled drinks industry. Most likely the minute particles abrade into the water when the bottle is squeezed (other article claims not squeezing), or when the top is repeatedly screwed on or off. Another common plastic type found in the bottled water samples was nylon. Study co-author Beizhan Yan, a geochemistry research professor at Columbia’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO), suggests that such particles may in fact come from filters designed to purify the water."
says... When you drink from a plastic water bottle, you could be exposing yourself to tiny, potentially harmful plastic particles known as microplastics. And the biggest source of your exposure to these microplastics could be the screw cap rather than the bottle itself.
That’s the conclusion of a peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Water and Health, which found the repeated motion of screwing a cap on and off the bottle creates friction that generates a significant amount of microplastics, which then end up in the water you drink. Each twist can produce about 500 microplastic particles, the study found.
Scientists estimate we consume about 16,000 microplastic particles – also called solid polymer particles – in a single year from bottled water alone. The new study showed that simply holding, squeezing and drinking from a bottle didn’t increase the amount of microplastics in the water.
Microplastics in bottled water that don’t come from the cap can usually be linked to the manufacturing process. During production, plastic water bottles are subject to high pressure, temperature changes and transportation, which can cause the plastic to degrade, leading to the creation of microplastics.
Nearly all the bottles – 93 percent – in a 2018 study of more than 11 brands of water and 259 bottles contained microplastics. And French scientists found microplastics in seven out of nine bottled mineral waters tested last year.
On average, bottled water contains about 60 times more microplastics than tap water. Filtered water is the better choice, whenever possible, because it likely contains fewer contaminants that may be harmful to your health.
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