Drinking from plastic bottles may be poisonous to your health — and drinking straight from the tap might save your life.
A recent study published in the journal Microplastics found that drinking from plastic bottles may increase blood pressure as a result of microplastics entering the bloodstream.
As the name implies, microplastics are small particles of plastic found in the vast majority of our food and water supply.
Unwittingly ingested, these particles can penetrate cell barriers in the intestines and lungs and move to the bloodstream and other tissues in the body.
In 2018 alone, exposure to microplastics — which the Mayo Clinic has linked to heart health, hormone imbalances and even cancer — cost the healthcare system as much as $289 billion.
The new study by a team of researchers from the Department of Medicine at Danube Private University in Austria found that blood pressure decreased significantly when participants stopped consuming fluid from plastic and glass bottles and drank only tap water for a period of two weeks.
“Remarkable trends were observed. The results of the study suggest, for the first time, that a reduction in plastic use could potentially lower blood pressure, probably due to the reduced volume of plastic particles in the bloodstream,” the research team noted.
Scientists previously found that humans consume 5 grams of microplastics each week, or about the weight of a credit card. Microplastics have also been found in fluids packaged in glass bottles.
In the Danube study, participants’ blood pressure was measured at the start and throughout the study. Results revealed a “significant decline” in diastolic blood pressure after two weeks.
“Based on the findings, indicating a reduction in blood pressure with decreased plastic consumption, we hypothesize that plastic particles present in the bloodstream might contribute to elevated blood pressure,” the researchers noted.
‘We concluded, after extensive research, that beverages packaged in plastic bottles should be avoided.”
In terms of safeguarding water sources, separate research found that boiling and filtering tap water can reduce the presence of microplastics (and nanoplastics) by nearly 90%.