The Environmental and Health Implications of Plastic Water Bottle Pollution

Plastic pollution is a widely known international environmental and health issue, especially in more developed countries such as the United States. According to the EPA, as of 2018, “plastics generation was 35.7 million tons in the United States,” with “an increase of 4.3 million tons from 2010 to 2018… from durable goods and the containers and packaging categories.” This means that plastic water bottle waste in the United States has increased over the years. This waste, which ends up in many different locations, significantly affects the health of both our natural environment as well as the physical health of the bodies of humans and animals.

Plastic pollution can seriously harm the bodies of humans and animals. Plastics break down into smaller pieces over time called microplastics (5mm) and nanoplastics (1μm) (NIH 2024). As these tiny particles travel in the oceans and air, they enter human and animals’ bodies and cells easily as they breathe in, as supported by research which “has found evidence of plastic particles in human blood, lungs, gut, feces, and reproductive tissues like the placenta and testes” (NIH 2024). The National Library of Medicine finds that human, aquatic organism, and mammal exposure to microplastics and nanoplastics is ultimately unavoidable given the current environmental situation (2020). The effects of these plastics on human health are still unknown due to the small size of the particles along with a lack of a control group in studies. However, the presence of plastics clearly suggests that the effects would likely be toxic and not be beneficial. Because of this, by replacing plastic water bottles with a long-term product that doesn’t contribute constant plastic waste to our environments, we can take the safer route to a healthier life and human population.

The presence of plastic pollution in oceans is influential, widespread, and growing. A group of scientists conducted a study on 34 different animals on the coast of French Guiana with the aim to more specifically study the effect of plastic pollution on marine life. By conducting studies on the animals’ organs and ensuring the experimental environment was free of contamination, the scientists found the presence of polyethylene plastic in all organisms (Emonnot et al. 2023). This plastic is the most common commodity plastic, being used for plastic packaging including plastic water bottles. This shows that plastic bottles in ocean pollution is widespread and affects a wide variety of animals. Many animals have died due to plastic pollution affecting their respiratory system or mobility. If this continues, the marine ecosystem could be thrown out of balance, having serious effects on our ocean and ocean dependent industries, such as fishing industries. The marine ecosystem is arguably one of the most important ecosystems to this planet due to the size and connection with other parts of the world, so it is important for humans to reduce plastic pollution by reducing usage of wasteful plastic products.