90% of salt samples in the world contain micro-plastic

The group of researchers at the Personal Care Products Council - an American industrial organization, analyzed salt samples from 21 European countries, North America, South America, Africa and Asia.

They found that 36/39 samples of micro-plastic and the ratio of micro-plastic particles appearing in salt samples were all very different, especially high in samples taken from Asia with the 'record' sample from Indonesia. This also coincides with the results of the study in Science in 2015, when pointing to Asia as a hotspot and Indonesia - with 54,720km of coastline - as the second most polluted country in the world. after China.

Picture 1 of 90% of salt samples in the world contain micro-plastic
Sea salt contains the most microscopic particles.

Combining many previous salt research results by Spanish, Chinese, American, French and British colleagues, they have identified the scale of micro-plastic contamination in salt and geographical spread. of micro-plastic in table salt as well as their correlation with plastic pollution in the environment.

Seung-Kyu Kim - oceanography professor at Incheon National University, South Korea, commented: 'The new finding shows that people eat seafood-based foods containing micro-plastic particles. There is a clear link to pollution in the waters containing materials'.

Another indication of the micro-plastic density according to the geographic locations that the researchers found is that sea ​​salt contains the most micro-plastic particles , followed by salts extracted from inland saltwater lakes and rock salt. .

Sherri Mason, a professor at the Federal University of New York in Fredonia, who had been involved in the study of micro-plastic in previous table salt with colleagues at the University of Minnesota, said that the study added ' another piece into the micro-plastic problem ' to assess its impact on human health. She added, the new study 'shows us that micro plastic is everywhere. Even if you buy sea salt in the UK, you're probably not safe. '

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