What does it mean that scientists found 240,000 nanoparticles of plastic in a typical bottle of water?
The number is big and sounds alarming, but it isn’t very informative. How many particles are needed to cause disease? What kinds of ailments are likely to result? Are there people who are dead now who’d be alive if they’d avoided bottled water?
These questions need to be addressed to before we can make informed decisions at the individual and societal level. Should we ban plastic bottles for water and other drinks? Require health warnings? Would doing so save lives — or would it only take attention and money from more pressing health problems?
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