Washington. The WHO said it will review the potential risks after a non-profit collective said more than 90% of bottled water bought in nine countries were contaminated.
The WHO on Thursday announced it will review the potential risks of plastic in drinking water after an analysis of popular bottled-water brands revealed that more than 90% contained tiny pieces of plastic. An analysis of 259 bottles across 11 brands and 19 locations in nine countries, including India, found an average of 325 plastic particles for every litre of water being sold, non-profit collective Orb Media revealed. Scientists at the State University of New York in Fredonia had commissioned them to conduct the study. One bottle of Nestlé Pure Life had a concentration of more than 10,000 particles per litre. Polypropylene was the most common type of plastic fragment found. The other plastic debris that were found are nylon and polyethylene terephthalate, which is used to make bottle caps. Apart from India, the bottles analysed were bought in from the United States, China, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Lebanon, Kenya and Thailand. Some of the bottled-water brands that were studied include Aqua, Aquafina, Bisleri, Dasani, Epura and Evian.