--- title: Microplastics in Bottled Water At Least 10 Times Worse Than Once Thought | TIME description: Bottled water has long been marketed as a safer alternative to what comes out of the tap—if it doesn’t come straight from a mountain spring, it’s at least purified and chemical free. But a new study by scientists at Columbia University and Rutgers University demonstrates that bottled water may be far worse when it comes to microscopic plastic pollutants capable of passing into the bloodstream. canonical: https://time.com/video/OqOCGC2i/ og:title: Microplastics in Bottled Water At Least 10 Times Worse Than Once Thought og:description: Bottled water has long been marketed as a safer alternative to what comes out of the tap—if it doesn’t come straight from a mountain spring, it’s at least purified and chemical free. But a new study by scientists at Columbia University and Rutgers University demonstrates that bottled water may be far worse when it comes to microscopic plastic pollutants capable of passing into the bloodstream. og:url: https://time.com/video/OqOCGC2i/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/OqOCGC2i/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Microplastics in Bottled Water At Least 10 Times Worse Than Once Thought twitter:description: Bottled water has long been marketed as a safer alternative to what comes out of the tap—if it doesn’t come straight from a mountain spring, it’s at least purified and chemical free. But a new study by scientists at Columbia University and Rutgers University demonstrates that bottled water may be far worse when it comes to microscopic plastic pollutants capable of passing into the bloodstream. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/OqOCGC2i/poster.jpg?width=720 --- * Health # Microplastics in Bottled Water At Least 10 Times Worse Than Once Thought > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. A TIME subscription provides full access to that journalism in print and digital, from $20 a year, and can be cancelled at any time. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Microplastics in Bottled Water At Least 10 Times Worse Than Once Thought [Watch (HLS stream): Microplastics in Bottled Water At Least 10 Times Worse Than Once Thought](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OqOCGC2i.m3u8) (2:00)  _Published 2024-01-09. Bottled water has long been marketed as a safer alternative to what comes out of the tap—if it doesn’t come straight from a mountain spring, it’s at least purified and chemical free. But a new study by scientists at Columbia University and Rutgers University demonstrates that bottled water may be far worse when it comes to microscopic plastic pollutants capable of passing into the bloodstream._ --- Jan 10, 2024 2:20 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Microplastic Contamination Is Found in Most Bottled Water, a New Study Says](/video/XdtKa6hS/) ### Microplastic Contamination Is Found in Most Bottled Water, a New Study Says [Thirst Sells: 5 Super Expensive Bottles of Water](/video/gVCU4uST/) ### Thirst Sells: 5 Super Expensive Bottles of Water [Are Used Plastic Bottles Safe for Drinking Water?](/video/lCLA9ha6/) ### Are Used Plastic Bottles Safe for Drinking Water? --- ## Transcript But these are Lance's disarm mirror. Will be sent through the mirror. The our research found that there are on average a quarter of a million particles including both micro classes and Nano plastic per liter of the bottled water. If it does not stop and magnetize it can actually go even smaller. So Wednesday the size below what micro Nano plastic cuz now it's saying it's sizes in another Branch. There are actually I don't have nice people, they use to study nanoparticles that is called electromagnet coffee. They can actually see very tiny particles of matter that but they don't tell you If the particle is plastic or not, so our techniques is kind of dumb, combines the both benefits of being able to see smaller and then be able to tell that what type of plastic chemical composition is that I mean, what are we see or not? It's out there. So it's better that we actually know how much is out there and what they are but I myself as a scientist. I would want more data in terms of the toxicology study to actually know that whatever help people you would be to my own body. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Microplastics in Bottled Water At Least 10 Times Worse Than Once Thought","description":"Bottled water has long been marketed as a safer alternative to what comes out of the tap—if it doesn’t come straight from a mountain spring, it’s at least purified and chemical free. 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