A new study has found that the average bottle of water contains nearly a quarter million fragments of “nano plastics,” which are plastic particles so small they can potentially cause cells to malfunction. 

The findings published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claim the smaller the particle size, the easier it is to get into the human body and then cross different barriers.

The tiny compounds can cross into the blood, and then can cross the different barriers to get into the cells, interfering with the cellular organs “and causing them to malfunction.”