Health experts have issued a warning, declaring our organs could be suffering after finding a dangerous hydrocarbon floating around in plastic water bottles.

According to industry data, North Americans guzzled 16.2 billion gallons of bottled water in 2024, with consumption rising by a jaw-dropping 2 percent when compared to the previous year’s publishings.

And while you may think reaching for a bottle of Evian or snapping up some Fiji Water is a healthy practice, scientists have revealed you actually could be doing some major damage to your health.

Previous research into how healthy bottled water is

Previously, researchers at Columbia and Rutgers Universities discovered that a litre of bottled water contained an average of 240,000 nanoplastic and microplastic fragments.

These microplastics - defined as minuscule pieces of plastic debris - are often formed with the breakdown of larger plastics and can be encountered in our cosmetics, our cleaning products, and, surprisingly, in our one-use water bottles.

After analyzing five samples of three common bottled water brands, researchers found seven different types of plastics in the liquid.

These included polyamide, a type of nylon, Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a member of the polyester family, and even polystyrene.

In their paper, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the experts theorised that most of the microplastics found in the water bottles were actually coming from the plastic casing itself.

According to the researchers, ingesting these microplastics can cause the shards to be transported to your liver, kidneys, your brain, and even make their way across a pregnant person’s placental boundary, ending up inside an unborn child, writes CNN.

Microplastics can cause damage to our internal organs

Following the Columbia and Rutgers probe, a new study published by Communications Biology has found our kidneys are the organ suffering the most from microplastic consumption.

The paper, titled ‘Activation of gut metabolite ACSL4/LPCAT3 by microplastics in drinking water mediates ferroptosis via gut–kidney axis’ has found that microplastics are the primary carriers of Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP).

BaP is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that can cause cancer, genetic defects, and damage fertility, writes the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).

It is also classified as extremely toxic to aquatic life and tends to cause allergic skin reactions.

The paper claims that bottled water is the main source of microplastics, writing that these BaP-laced shards are doing serious damage to our intestinal wall, wreaking havoc on our kidneys, and causing systemic inflammation.

How can we reduce the microplastics we consume?

The good news is that you can dramatically decrease the amount of microplastics you consume just by ditching plastic water bottles.

Instead, specialists advise you to install a high-quality filter on your tap. It’s understood this can help you cut your intake down by a whopping 90 percent.

According to another paper, this time published by the Genomic Press, you could take your microplastic ingestion down from 90,000 to 4,000 particles each year if you go cold turkey on plastic-packaged liquid,

“Given the widespread presence of microplastics in the environment, completely eliminating exposure is unrealistic.

“A more practical approach is to reduce the most significant sources of microplastic intake,” the researchers wrote.

Other ways to reduce microplastic consumption

If drinking bottled water is one of your non-negotiables then good news: there’s a myriad of ways you can work to reduce how often you digest microplastics.

These include storing leftover food in glassware tubs, drinking through stainless steel straws, and being mindful of seafood consumption.

Instead of using plastic bags, opt to pack your grocery items in a cotton tote bag and be sure to buy organic clothes.

By choosing to travel via public transport, you’ll be removing one more car from the road, contributing to producing fewer microplastics overall.

Bottled water drinkers are being warned after a new study found something shocking.

Whether you drink the occasional bottle of water or you religiously guzzle bottles down each day, you’re going to want to read this.

Scientists have now issued a warning for those of you bottle lovers to stop drinking your water out of these plastic bottles, and for a very good reason.

A study was conducted by Xin Gao and Xiaoqi Lang of the Columbia chemistry department; Huipeng Deng and Teodora Maria Bratu of Lamont-Doherty; Qixuan Chen of Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health; and Phoebe Stapleton of Rutgers University, and published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It revealed that drinking bottled water couple be causing your health some issues, particularly in the future.

The study found that there are tiny little pieces of plastic particles in plastic bottles, which then enter your body.

While you might not like reusable and sustainable bottles, now is the time to take the plunge and make the switch, as the researchers at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory found an incredible amount of plastic in just one liter of water.

According to the study authors, there were 240,000 plastic particles found in the average-sized bottle, which is now 10 to 100 times more than previous estimates thought would be inside of a bottle.

The plastic particles are so small that they are called nanoplastics, and they could be linked to cancer, birth defects, and even fertility problems.

They are so small that they could enter our blood cells and our brains, causing issues for our health the more we consume them.

But that’s not the only issue with drinking from water bottles.

Unfortunately, the phthalates in the plastics are also dangerous for us to consume, as Express reported that the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences stated this plastic is ‘linked with development, reproductive, brain, immune and other problems’.

“Previously this was just a dark area, uncharted. Toxicity studies were just guessing what’s in there,” said study coauthor Beizhan Yan. “This opens a window where we can look into a world that was not exposed to us before.”

That’s not good for us.

According to a statement by the researchers, they were not surprised.

However, it’s not just bottled water you need to watch out for; it’s also your condiments that also come in plastic, such as mayonnaise or ketchup.

Qixuan Chen, a co-author of the study and associate professor at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, said: "The study findings unveil a fresh perspective, enabling a more profound comprehension of the implications of plastic on both the environment and human health."

“It is not totally unexpected to find so much of this stuff,” said Qian. “The idea is that the smaller things get, the more of them there are.”

Co-author Wei Min added: "There is a huge world of nanoplastics to be studied. It’s not size that matters. It’s the numbers, because the smaller things are, the more easily they can get inside us."