Microscopic fragments of plastic found in drinking water systems may be doing something beyond contaminating the water directly: they may be helping dangerous bacteria survive the treatment processes designed to eliminate them. A Virginia Tech-led study published in the journal Water Research found that nanoplastics interact with the bacterial communities inside water distribution systems in ways that strengthen the slimy biofilms those bacteria form, making those biofilms thicker, heavier, and more resistant to disinfectants including chlorine.
The concern is not only the nanoplastics themselves, which have already been detected in human blood, breast milk, lungs, and arterial plaques in accumulating research. It is also what the nanoplastics enable in the water before it reaches a person's tap.
