Some bottled water contains more microplastics than tap water
February 3, 2026 – A recent study at Ohio State University shows that some brands of bottled water contain much higher concentrations of nanoplastic particles than treated tap water from nearby water treatment plants around Lake Erie. The study compared samples of six common bottled water brands with samples of water from four treatment plants. The results show that the concentration of very small plastic particles in the bottled water was up to three times higher than in the tested tap water. The researchers used analytical methods that can also detect nanoplastics, particles that are smaller than common microplastics and therefore more difficult to measure. The presence of these particles in bottled water was largely attributed to the packaging itself.
