Sparkling water itself is just water and carbon dioxide, so the fizz adds no plastic. The microplastics come from the packaging — the PET plastic bottles and plastic-lined aluminium cans most sparkling water is sold in, which shed micro- and nanoplastic particles into the drink. Studies of bottled water have found anywhere from a few hundred to many thousands of plastic particles per litre, and a 2024 PNAS study counted roughly 240,000 per litre once nanoplastics were included. Laboratory work suggests carbonation under pressure actually increases shedding from plastic, so fizzy water in plastic may carry more than still water in the same bottle. None of it is proven to make you sick at these levels, but the fix is easy and worth it: choose glass, or carbonate filtered tap water at home. For the bigger picture, see bottled water vs tap water.
Sparkling water has quietly become the default upgrade from soda — seltzer, club soda, mineral water, the sober cousin of the hard seltzer. It's marketed as pure, and in terms of what's deliberately added, it mostly is. But "pure water plus gas" ignores the one thing every can and bottle has in common: the drink spends its whole life pressed against plastic. That's where the microplastics question really lives — not in the bubbles, but in the bottle.
To answer it honestly we have to separate two things people tend to blur together: the drink and its container. The carbonation is just dissolved CO2, a gas, not a plastic. The plastic comes from the PET bottle, the cap, or the thin polymer lining inside an aluminium can. Below, we walk through what's measured, why the fizz may make it worse, how the packaging types compare, whether any of it is dangerous, and exactly what to do about it.
The bottom line up front: the bubbles are innocent; the bottle is the problem. Sparkling water sold in plastic or cans can carry micro- and nanoplastics shed from the packaging, and carbonation may increase that shedding — but you don't have to give up fizzy water to avoid it. Buy it in glass, or carbonate your own filtered water at home and keep it in glass. For context, see what's measured in water bottles, how bottled compares to tap, and whether soda has the same problem.
Does sparkling water have microplastics?
Most sparkling water sold in plastic bottles or cans does carry some microplastics, but the fizz is not the reason. Sparkling water is only water and dissolved carbon dioxide, and neither contains plastic. The particles come from the packaging the drink touches — the bottle, the cap, and the can's inner lining.
Think of it as a contact problem, not an ingredient problem. Any drink stored in plastic can pick up particles shed from that plastic over time, and water is no exception. What makes sparkling water its own question is the carbonation: the drink is bottled under pressure, and it's mildly acidic because the dissolved CO2 forms a little carbonic acid. Both of those conditions appear to encourage plastic to shed. So the honest answer is yes, usually — and the amount depends almost entirely on what the water is packaged in and how it's handled.
Does carbonation make the microplastics worse?
The evidence points that way. Carbonated water is bottled under pressure and is slightly acidic, and a 2023 study in Water Research found that plastic bottles used for chilled carbonated drinks released more micro- and nanoplastics as the carbon-dioxide content rose — with the count climbing further after repeated freeze-thaw cycles.
In that study, researchers filled bottles made of different plastics and measured what came off into the carbonated liquid. Polypropylene bottles shed the most — around 234 particles per litre in their tests — and the release rose along with the amount of CO2 forced in. Freezing and thawing the bottles a few times pushed the numbers far higher still. The mechanism is intuitive: pressure and acidity stress the inner surface of the plastic, loosening tiny fragments. It's the clearest reason to treat fizzy water in plastic as a higher-shedding case than the same still water — and a strong argument for getting the drink out of plastic entirely.
Which is worse: plastic bottles, cans, or glass?
Glass is clearly the best; plastic bottles and cans both put the drink against a polymer surface. PET bottles shed from the bottle wall and cap, aluminium cans are lined inside with a thin plastic coating the carbonated water sits on, and glass is inert — the only common container with no plastic touching the drink except a small cap liner. The table lays out how the everyday options compare.
| Container | Plastic touching the drink | Microplastic risk |
|---|---|---|
| PET plastic bottle | The whole bottle wall, plus the cap | Highest — sheds more with carbonation, heat and reuse |
| Aluminium can | A thin internal polymer lining | Moderate — the lining is the contact surface for acidic, fizzy water |
| Glass bottle | Only the cap liner | Lowest — glass is inert and sheds nothing |
| Home-carbonated in glass | None, if you skip the plastic bottle | Lowest — you control the water and skip the packaging |
The surprise for most people is the can. A cold aluminium can feels like the plastic-free choice, but almost every beverage can is lined on the inside with a thin polymer film to stop the drink from reacting with the metal — and for carbonated, slightly acidic water, that lining is exactly the surface the drink sits against. Glass is the honest winner: nothing but glass (and whatever lines the cap) ever meets the water.
Has anyone actually measured microplastics in bottled water?
Yes, repeatedly, and the numbers have only grown as detection improved. A 2018 study across 11 brands found an average of 325 microplastic particles per litre of bottled water; a 2018 German study counted thousands of even smaller particles down to one micrometre; and a 2024 study using laser imaging found roughly 240,000 particles per litre once nanoplastics were counted.
The landmark 2018 analysis from the State University of New York at Fredonia tested 259 bottles from 11 brands and found plastic particles in 93% of them, averaging 325 per litre for particles down to about 6.5 micrometres. A separate 2018 study in Water Research looked harder — down to one micrometre — and reported thousands of particles per litre in both plastic and glass mineral-water bottles, most of them traced to the bottle and cap material itself. Then in 2024, a team used a laser technique called stimulated Raman scattering to see particles down to 100 nanometres, and the count jumped to about 240,000 per litre, roughly 90% of them nanoplastics that older methods had never caught. None of these studies isolated sparkling water as its own category, but they measured the same packaging sparkling water uses — and the carbonation research suggests fizzy versions sit at the higher end.
Are the microplastics in sparkling water dangerous?
No everyday health harm has been proven, and that honesty matters. Micro- and nanoplastics have been detected in human blood, lungs and other tissue, and laboratory studies show they can trigger inflammation and oxidative stress — but no study has shown that drinking sparkling water from plastic causes a specific disease at normal exposure.
What exists so far is detection plus a plausible mechanism, not proof of harm. A 2024 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that people with micro- and nanoplastics in their artery plaque had a higher rate of heart attack, stroke and death — a striking association, but an association, not evidence that the particles caused those events. The reasonable posture is neither panic nor dismissal: the particles are real and measurable, the long-term effects are unknown, and the smart move is to lower avoidable exposure with cheap, permanent swaps while the science matures. Giving up fizzy water isn't required; getting it out of plastic is the whole fix.
No bottled-water brand can honestly promise zero plastic particles, and no filter pitcher goes inside a sealed can. Be skeptical of any sparkling water sold as “microplastic-free.” The credible move is simply glass packaging or home carbonation of filtered water — not a label claim. Put your money into a glass bottle and a water filter, not premium bottled fizz.
How do you reduce microplastics from sparkling water?
Change the container, not the habit. Buy sparkling water in glass instead of PET bottles or cans, or carbonate your own filtered tap water at home and store it in glass. Filter the water you start with, and never heat, freeze or reuse plastic bottles, which makes them shed faster.
The highest-leverage move is to stop drinking fizzy water out of plastic. Glass-bottled mineral and sparkling waters are widely available and put nothing but glass against the drink. If you go through a lot of it, a home carbonation maker is cheaper and lower-waste: fizz your own filtered tap water, decant it into a glass bottle, and you've skipped the PET bottles and can liners entirely while controlling the water that goes in.
Then fix the water itself, because tap and still water carry particles too. A good carbon or hollow-fibre filter removes most microplastics, and a reverse-osmosis system catches the large majority of the nano-sized fraction before you ever carbonate it. Carry what you make in a glass or stainless steel bottle, and keep plastic bottles out of hot cars and freezers, since heat and temperature swings are exactly what make plastic shed fastest.
Fix the water behind the fizz
The simplest swap is to carbonate filtered water at home and keep it in glass — you skip the plastic packaging and control what goes in. It starts with filtering the tap water everything else is made from.
The gear that cuts the most nanoplastics and microplastics before they reach you
There is nothing you can buy to remove particles that are already inside you — the real lever is lowering how much gets in, and that means the water you drink and the plastic your food and drinks touch. So instead of a “detox” that doesn't work, here are the real, currently-sold tools that address the sources you actually control: certified water filters for the single biggest input, plus glass bottles, glass storage and food-grade silicone to keep what you consume off plastic. Prices and availability change, so check current listings.
1. Epic Pure Water Filter Pitcher — Best Overall for Microplastics
Best Overall
Reviewers point to published independent lab data and a filter rated around 150 gallons, far longer than a Brita, as the reasons they trust it, and several describe the slow, deliberate drip as reassuring rather than annoying. The honest downsides: owners report the filtration is genuinely slow and not the pick if you want a glass of water in a hurry, and third-party complaints mention cracked plastic, flip-top lids that stick, and water that spills or leaks from the lid when you pour a full pitcher.
The clearest evidence on this list: Epic posts its independent lab results publicly, so you can see the 99.9% microplastic-removal data instead of trusting a slogan on the box.
Why it's safe: The hollow fiber membrane physically blocks microplastic particles down to ~1 micron, while the carbon stage handles chlorine, lead, and PFAS — all in a BPA-free Tritan body.
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Drinking water is the single most controllable source of the microplastics you swallow, so filtering it is the highest-leverage swap on this list. The Epic Pure is the clearest choice: its dual-stage design uses a hollow fiber membrane as the primary microplastic barrier, and Epic publishes the independent lab results to back the 99.9% removal claim — transparency most competitors don't match. For the full field, see our ranking of the best water filter pitchers for microplastics.
2. Waterdrop Chubby 10-Cup Pitcher — Best Filter Life
Best Filter Life
Owners like the look and the long 200-gallon filter life, and roughly 80 percent of reviews land positive, with the common praise being clean-tasting water at a low cost per gallon. The honest gripes: several owners warn the handle can feel loose or strain under a full pitcher, so they lift with two hands; some report the pour spills if you tip too fast; and the change-filter indicator light draws complaints for not lighting or not staying lit.
A membrane blocks particles by pore size rather than by claim list, and its 200-gallon filter runs about 4 to 5 months — the lowest ongoing cost on the list.
Why it's safe: A hollow fiber membrane is a physical barrier to particles, while the carbon composite handles chlorine, heavy metals, and PFAS — all in a BPA/BPS-free body.
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If you're filtering all your drinking water — which is the point — you'll run a lot through the cartridge, so filter life matters, and the Waterdrop Chubby leads on it: a hollow fiber membrane on Waterdrop's own published lab data, plus 200 gallons per filter (about 4–5 months for most households). The "filter while you pour" design works just like a familiar counter pitcher, but with a membrane that's actually tested for microplastics.
3. Aquagear Water Filter Pitcher — Best Value
Best Value
Owners choose it for broad contaminant removal and clean taste, and some lab testing found it did not clog. The honest downsides: the most repeated complaint is slow filtration, described by one reviewer as a mixed bag between people waiting minutes and people waiting hours, and it can worsen as the filter ages; and the design draws gripes, with the pour-spout cover popping out and spraying water and a lid that fits poorly and can pop off mid-pour.
Change the filter half as often as most pitchers — 150 gallons per cartridge means fewer replacements, lower annual cost, and less to remember.
Why it's safe: A 5-stage filter with a sub-micron membrane stage captures microplastics, lead, fluoride, and chlorine, in a BPA-free body with USA-made filter media.
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The Aquagear costs more upfront but its 150-gallon filter life means lower annual replacement costs than most competitors, and the pitcher body is guaranteed for life. It uses a 5-stage filter with a sub-micron membrane stage that targets microplastics, heavy metals, and fluoride — a good fit if you'd rather set up clean water once and not think about cartridges every month.
4. Lifefactory Glass Bottle 22oz — Best Glass Bottle
Best Glass Bottle
Bottled water is one of the most concentrated microplastic sources measured, so the highest-impact drinking swap is to carry your own filtered water in glass — and this is the bottle for it. It’s made from borosilicate glass, the same material used in laboratory glassware, which is thermally stable, chemically inert, and completely free of BPA, BPS, and any polymer contact with the drink. It imparts no taste, so water tastes like water. The protective silicone sleeve adds grip and guards against shattering.
The screw cap contains a small polypropylene component — the only plastic in the system, and it sits at the exterior closure rather than the drink surface. Rinse it like any cap and it stays a non-issue. Dishwasher-safe, and sturdy enough for daily desk-and-bag use.
Owners love that water tastes clean with no plastic aftertaste and that the silicone sleeve makes the glass easy to grip and survive the occasional drop. The honest downsides: it’s heavier than a plastic or steel bottle, the glass can still break if dropped on a hard edge, and some reviewers find the flip-cap spout narrow or report the cap can leak if not fully closed.
Carry the filtered water you made at home instead of buying bottled — no plastic contact, no leaching, and it cleans up in the dishwasher.
Why it's safe: Borosilicate glass is completely inert — it never leaches, never sheds microplastics, and imparts no taste. The only plastic is a small cap component at the exterior closure, not the drink surface.
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Carrying filtered water in a reusable glass or stainless steel bottle — or a dedicated filtered water bottle — means the water you reach for all day is already clean, with no PET shedding or plastic aftertaste. It's the simplest way to make “not bottled water” your default when you're away from home, which is where most people quietly rack up their plastic intake.
5. Glasslock Oven Safe Container Set (3-Pack) — Best Glass Storage
Best Glass Storage
Longtime owners like that the glass bodies are oven-, microwave-, and freezer-safe and that the snap-lock lids seal tight. The honest downsides run through the lids, not the glass: reviewers report cracked lids, snapped locking tabs, and mold building up in the rubber gaskets if they are not dried well. Some buyers also received sets with a locking piece missing, and several flag slow, hard-to-reach customer service when they needed a replacement part.
Three stackable glass containers in one box — enough to store a week of leftovers and prepped ingredients without a single plastic tub.
Why it's safe: Your food sits on inert tempered glass, not plastic — so warm, acidic, watery foods can’t leach or pick up shed particles. The BPA-free lids seal with a food-grade silicone gasket that only touches the rim.
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Glass storage is the direct fix for food-borne exposure: keep leftovers and prepped meals in inert glass instead of plastic tubs, and warm them with the lid off — in the container, never in a plastic one in the microwave — so your food never sits against hot plastic. Warm, acidic and oily foods are exactly the ones that pull the most from plastic, and this is the cheapest way to move a week of meals off it in one purchase. For the full lineup, see our guide to the best glass food storage containers.
6. Stasher Reusable Silicone Bag Starter Kit — Best Silicone Bag
Best Silicone Bag
For freezing food in portions, stashing leftovers you won't finish in time, or anything you’d reach for a plastic bag — Stasher’s platinum-cured silicone is the upgrade: sturdier than any disposable bag and free of the chemicals that migrate from plastic. The patented Pinch-Loc seal is genuinely airtight and leakproof, so it keeps food from drying out.
It’s freezer safe to -70°F and goes straight to the microwave or a 425°F oven. The starter kit covers the everyday sizes — sandwich, snack, and stand-up half-gallon — so you can retire a whole box of single-use bags in one purchase.
Owners like that the platinum silicone bags go from freezer to microwave and replace throwaway plastic for years. The honest gripes: smell and stain retention come up often, with reviewers noting garlic and strong odors linger even after washing; the pinch-lock seal can be fiddly to open and close; and the seams are slow to dry, which can invite mildew if you do not air them out.
Store prepped produce, snacks, and batch-cooked food in airtight silicone instead of plastic film — then thaw and reheat in the same bag, no transfer needed.
Why it's safe: Platinum-cured silicone — the highest-purity, chemically inert grade — with no plastic, PVC, BPA, lead, latex, phthalates, or PFAS.
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Freezing and storing food in flimsy plastic bags is one of the easiest habits to upgrade. Food-grade platinum silicone does the same job without the shedding of a thin disposable bag: freeze a batch flat, thaw a portion at a time, and it seals airtight from freezer to microwave. Retiring single-use plastic bags removes a small but steady contact point between your food and plastic. For the full lineup, see our guide to the best silicone food storage bags.
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Your water is the biggest lever, but it's one of dozens of daily plastic touchpoints that add up in what you swallow. The Complete Plasticproof Guide covers every room — kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room — with 80+ product recommendations backed by 47+ studies.
The honest verdict
So, does sparkling water have microplastics? If it comes in a plastic bottle or a can, almost certainly some — but the fizz is innocent. Sparkling water is just water and carbon dioxide; the particles are shed by the packaging the drink is pressed against, and the carbonation, with its pressure and mild acidity, appears to speed that shedding up rather than cause it. The measured counts in bottled water run from a few hundred to, once you include the nanoplastics, hundreds of thousands of particles per litre, and plastic-bottled carbonated drinks sit toward the higher end. Glass is the clear exception, because nothing but glass ever touches the water.
None of this means fizzy water is dangerous, and nobody has shown it causes disease at everyday exposure. It means the one variable you control — the container — is also the one that matters, and it's cheap to change. Buy sparkling water in glass, or better, carbonate your own filtered tap water at home and drink it from glass. Filter the water first, keep plastic out of heat and the freezer, and you keep every bubble while cutting the plastic that rides along with it. The bubbles were never the problem.
Cut the plastic, keep the bubbles
Filtered water carbonated at home in glass is the cleanest fizzy water you can drink — and filtering your tap water is the single biggest lever for the particles you take in, sparkling or still.
Frequently Asked Questions
Usually some, but not because of the bubbles. Sparkling water is only water and carbon dioxide, and neither is plastic. The particles come from the container: the PET plastic bottles and plastic-lined aluminium cans most sparkling water is sold in shed micro- and nanoplastics into the drink. Studies that measured bottled water found anywhere from a few hundred to many thousands of plastic particles per litre, and the plastic packaging, not the carbonation itself, is the source.
It appears to. Carbon dioxide is dissolved into the water under pressure, and that pressure plus the mild acidity of carbonated water seems to help particles break loose from plastic surfaces. A 2023 study in Water Research found that plastic bottles used for chilled carbonated beverages released more micro- and nanoplastics as the amount of CO2 increased, and repeated freeze-thaw cycles raised it further. So fizzy water in plastic may shed more than still water in the same bottle.
Both put the drink against plastic. PET bottles shed particles from the bottle wall and cap, and the shedding rises with carbonation, heat and reuse. Aluminium cans look plastic-free but are lined on the inside with a thin polymer coating that the carbonated, slightly acidic water sits against. Glass is the only common sparkling-water container with no plastic touching the drink, apart from the cap liner.
It is the lowest-plastic option, but not guaranteed to be zero. Glass itself is inert and sheds nothing, so glass-bottled sparkling water avoids the main source. One 2018 study did find particles even in glass bottles, likely from the cap or the bottling line rather than the glass, so glass is a large improvement rather than a perfect guarantee. For the fewest particles, carbonate filtered tap water at home and keep it in glass.
It can, if you start with filtered water and use glass. A home carbonation maker lets you fizz your own filtered tap water, so you skip the PET bottles and can liners that shed particles, and you control the water going in. Use a glass bottle or carafe rather than the plastic bottle some machines include, and filter the tap water first with a carbon or reverse-osmosis filter to cut the particles already in it.
Move the plastic out of the way. Buy sparkling water in glass instead of PET bottles or cans, or carbonate your own filtered tap water at home and keep it in glass. Filter the water you start with, since tap and still water carry particles too, and never leave plastic bottles in a hot car or freeze and thaw them, which makes plastic shed faster. The bubbles are fine; it is the packaging you are fixing.
Sources
- Mason SA, Welch VG, Neratko J. "Synthetic Polymer Contamination in Bottled Water." Frontiers in Chemistry, 2018;6:407. (Tested 259 bottles across 11 brands; plastic particles in 93%, averaging 325 particles per litre down to ~6.5 micrometres.)
- Oßmann BE, Sarau G, Holtmannspötter H, et al. "Small-sized microplastics and pigmented particles in bottled mineral water." Water Research, 2018;141:307–316. (Down to 1 micrometre, found thousands of particles per litre in both plastic and glass mineral-water bottles, mostly from the bottle and cap material.)
- Zhu X, Qiang L, Shi H, et al. "Plastic bottles for chilled carbonated beverages as a source of microplastics and nanoplastics." Water Research, 2023;242:120243. (Plastic bottles released more micro- and nanoplastics as carbon-dioxide content rose; freeze-thaw cycles increased release further.)
- Qian N, Gao X, Lang X, et al. "Rapid single-particle chemical imaging of nanoplastics by SRS microscopy." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2024;121(3):e2300582121. (Found roughly 240,000 plastic particles per litre of bottled water, about 90% of them nanoplastics older methods never counted.)
- Marfella R, Prattichizzo F, Sardu C, et al. "Microplastics and Nanoplastics in Atheromas and Cardiovascular Events." New England Journal of Medicine, 2024;390:900–910. (Patients with micro- and nanoplastics in carotid-artery plaque had a higher rate of heart attack, stroke and death — an association, not proof of causation.)