Why are we playing with the health of children for the sake of using plastic containers for drinking water?

Latest scientific research has revealed that microplastics which are present in drinking water stored in plastic jars cause 200% increase in death rate of human immune cells when immune cells come in contact with microplastics. This will drastically reduce the ability of immune system to fight the disease causing pathogens entering the body.

We have seen the importance of effective immune system to fight the COVID-19 pandemic recently. We have also seen the havoc caused by COVID-19 in developed countries where the consumption of plastic is much higher than India.

If we want our children to have healthy immune systems, we must ban the usage of plastic containers for storage and transportation of drinking water because drinking water is the largest source of plastic ingestion in humans.

It has also been found that chemicals like phthalates (endocrine disrupter) and antimony (carcinogen) are leached in higher amounts into water when the plastic jars are exposed to sunlight. In the normal use case of 20 litre plastic jars used for transporting RO water, the jars are continuosly exposed to sunlight thus increasing the risk of chemicals leaching into water. These chemicals are linked to causing infertility in both men and women, birth defects, cancer, asthma, obesity, diabetes and behavioral problems.

Additionally, plastic tanks should be strictly banned for transporting drinking water because these tanks are continuously exposed to sunlight and mechanical commotion which causes accelerated leaching of chemicals and microplastics into water.

Health is the right of every human being. Its our responsibility to assure that our future generation is not robbed of this basic right for the sake of our bad habit of using plastic containers for drinking water.