The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned not enough is known about the impact of microplastics in drinking water.

A new report from the world body has highlighted the urgent need for more research to be done.

And they have called for an immediate reduction in plastic pollution to reduce exposure to potentially harmful substances.

Worryingly, it is now a sad fact that microplastics are found pretty much everywhere in the natural world including in oceans and freshwater way.

But most disturbing of all they are now commonly found in drinking water from the tap and bottled water.

However, at the moment there simply has not been enough research into the impact of microplastics to know what impact it is having on our health.

One issue is defining what microplastics are as they come from a multitude of different materials and sizes.

They can also be combined with numerous different chemicals – for example flame retardants – depending on their original purpose.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned not enough is known about the impact of having microplastics in drinking water Pic:Shutterstock

Plastic fragments and fibres from synthetic fabrics were the most commonly found microplastics found in drinking water, the report found.

And it says it is worried about three possible threats from the physical risk of the particles themselves, the chemicals leached from degraded plastics and ‘biofilms.’

Dr Maria Neira, head of the department of public health, environment and social determinants at WHO said: ‘We urgently need to know more about the health impact of microplastics because they are everywhere – including in our drinking-water.


‘But we need to find out more. We also need to stop the rise in plastic pollution worldwide.’