Plastic particles were found in popular bottled water brands, according to a new report, and the World Health Organization to launch a health review into the possible risks.
A recent study posted on orbmedia.org highlighted the issue after researchers tested 259 bottles of water from 11 brands across nine countries and discovered that 93 percent of the bottled waters contained microplastic contamination.
The study found an average of 10.4 microplastic particles per liter of bottled water, which is twice as much as that found in a previous study on tap water.
How does this occur?
Orb Media, a nonprofit journalism organization, explained that plastic waste does not biodegrade, but instead breaks down into smaller pieces.
As the particles become increasingly smaller in size, they are more easily digested and could even cross the gastrointestinal tract and end up being transported through a living organism.
Heading up the latest study is Sherri Mason of the State University of New York at Fredonia, who said that over 60 percent of the plastic found in the bottled water was actual "fragments" of plastic.
"I think it is coming through the process of bottling the water," Mason said, according to USA Today. "I think that most of the plastic that we are seeing is coming from the bottle itself, it is coming from the cap, it is coming from the industrial process of bottling the water."
The health implications of ingesting micro plastic particles are numerous.
Masons explained that there was a link to "certain kinds of cancer to lower sperm count to increases in conditions like ADHD and autism."
The WHO is set to assess this latest research and launch a review into the potential risks of plastic in drinking water.
"The public are obviously going to be concerned about whether this is going to make them sick in the short term and the long term," Bruce Gordon, coordinator of the WHO's global work on water and sanitation, told BBC News.