To be loosing my mind over DC using bottled microplastic-y water for years

[ByeByeBabyBabyTooth]

Would really appreciate some perspective as I’m struggling massively. DH is anti-tap water - regular boil notices in our area - so our house has been drinking solely from 5 gallon drums + a water cooler for years. A friend mentioned microplastics in bottled water to me yesterday - I hadn’t made any link with our water until then - and now I’ve fallen down a horrible google rabbithole. According to one university study, my small kids have injested up to a trillion particles over this time, most of which will never leave their blood. I know that there is no conclusive evidence around plastics and cancer / health risks but it looks like just a matter of time.

Have moved to tap water and generally low plastic anyway but really feeling like we’ve massively fucked up here and set the kids up for lots of health issues etc. and that it’s totally unrecoverable. And yes I know there are microplastics everywhere but bottled water seems to be far and away the worst offender and they’ve been drinking litres every day for years.

I’ve removed voting for this as think that lots of votes confirming that this is a problem will trip me over the edge totally. Would just really appreciate some support and a handhold I guess as I just feel so so awful! Thanks very much

Pretty sure the studies show that over 80% of people have microplastics in their blood and so you were never likely to avoid it. Also the microplastics will break down. I think any risk will be very very low and so you won't have harmed your kids - they will be fine.

I have no idea about the science of this, but there is no point worrying about it either way. Either they have micro plastics on their blood or they don't, but you can't get them out anyway so there's nothing you can do. Just change your ways from now on (sounds like you already have) and get on with living your best lives.

It’s a rabbit hole and the truth is so depressing either way you won’t win. We drink tap water but DC school insist she uses a standard school issue plastic bottle. I used plastic baby bottles when they were small, plastic cutlery. I store my food in Tupperware. The vegetables from the supermarket come in plastic containers or wrap. Milk from the supermarket in the standard plastic containers. Honestly it’s never ending and better to not think about it!

I thought the bigger risk was degraded plastic?

If your tap water isn't safe then that would have posed a greater risk. People die from water borne diseases.

You can't go back in time, there's no point tormenting yourself.

I saw an article recently that said there is 15% more micro plastics in bottled water than tap water. I have a relative who only drinks the bottle stuff believing it to be healthy

Where are you? 5 gallons suggests not uk. Might change my response.

Thanks all for the sympathetic replies! Am rural midwestern US and the tap water reeks of chlorine with regular boil notices. @gapattachment DH has the exact same view that plastics are the lesser of two evils.
And I know that I can’t do anything about it but can’t stop thinking about all the plastic in the bodies now!

@Pyroleus i suspect that living my best life will involve anxiety meds as I’m properly freaking out about this!

Get off Google. You will drive yourself mad going down the rabbit hole.

Wasted your money for years there.

Just use a filter like Brita.
Boil and reuse - cheaper than buying bottled water.

As for the indigestion of harmful particles - they are everywhere, clothes, teflon, cookware.
Are your utensils free of coatings?
Your clothes natural fibres?
Do you live away from a main road?
Your food totally organic and cooked from scratch?

Unless you live in a tribe unaffected by the modern world - you can't escape it.

Reminds me of my 70 plus years old neighbour, he changed his iron water pipes to some other material - in new builds it happens but old homes you only do it for you're renovating.
His home is nice, old generation, that kept up to date on home renovations.
Can't believe he wasted his money having them ripped out and replaced, like at his age it'll make any difference! Plus, what about the rest of the water works infrastructure that is iron, his water still has to flow through that.

People need real problems.

Use a filter jug. Water where we live is very chloriney. Filter jug resolves it.

I have plenty of ‘real’ problems but having loading my kids blood up with plastic which they’ll carry around for the rest of their lives is as real as any I think!

I think you're doing your best. Micro plastics are in fish, in water, everywhere now.
If you filter the water and don't use plastics anymore then that's nothing else you can do. Please don't panic. If they are going to drop down dead from it, everyone else in the world will be going down with them.

I read that too, but if the tap water where you live isn't safe to drink then bottled water is the obvious option. Try not to beat yourself up about it.

I am not in the UK and have to drink entirely bottled water as do 70% of the people who live in this country and as far as i'm aware incidences of cancer are no higher than in countries where they drink tap water. Incidences of cholera and other water-borne diseases are huge though so i'll take the plastics.

One thing we do decant the water into glass bottles to keep in the fridge and we don't keep a huge stock so its not sitting in plastic for long periods of time (I think it makes it taste funny) could you do that?

It really isn't.
Unless you're from an untouched Amazonian tribe it's in your DNA / blood due to how the western world produces goods and how it lives, especially America.
Watch a documentary about Teflon and how many Americans have it in their blood now - you're nearing the 100% mark.

Tip - if it's man made it's harmful to some degree.

I just feel so stupid 🥲 Had thought that the 5 gallon jugs were safe as they weren’t disposable plastic but, in reality, it’s all the same.

@sewsewsewyourboat thanks very much for that, the studies are dire reading and am trying to remind myself that a) it mightn’t be as bad as they indicate and b) we can just change going forward and if they survive the next 10 years their plastic blood levels might have reduced somewhat

As others have said, nothing you can do about it, so try not to think about it any more. Your children will 100% definitely die of something eventually, and it won’t be microplastic overdose. And even if it is, if it wasn't that it’d be something different.
Enjoy life while you can, it’s too short to be making yourself miserable over things you can’t control.

@Justice4Friendyes I know we’ll all have them in us eventually, I’m just afraid that my kids have 1000 times what is normal because of my water choices for them …

Not what you asked, but we have one of these and love it. Do you have anything similar in your country?

www.bibowater.co.uk

Can you get a good filter for your tap? We don't drink tap water (it's another rabbit hole you can go down with chlorine, traces of medication etc in the system plus the awful taste and personally I'd rather ingest microplastics than the stuff in tap water) We switched from bottled to a really good filtration system on our tap, it goes through three different filters. The brand is Water for Health.

Btw appreciate all the replies, am reading and re-reading to try and keep the panic down!

Fuck sake, there are millions of children in the world who don’t even have clean water, try getting a sense of proportion,

@Iamthemoom am looking into this now, thank you