Are we eating plastic waste daily?

And this amount of plastic comes from the salt we eat every day.

Are we eating plastic waste every day?

According to statistics, every year up to 5 million tons of plastic waste is dumped into oceans around the world, and scientists say, this plastic trash is polluting the amount of salt we eat every day.

Specifically, scientists at the University of East China (Shanghai) have tested salt samples made from various sources: sea salt, salt from saltwater lakes, rock salt .

Every year we are swallowing thousands of tiny plastic beads through salt.

The results showed that sea salt contained 550 - 681 microscopic plastic particles / kg. Salt made from saline and rock salt lakes has a lower rate - about 204 seeds / kg. One person normally has about 5 - 12g of salt a day, which means thousands of plastic beads are swallowed in a year.

Experts say these viral particles come from two sources: waste plastics, and microbeads in cosmetics such as facial cleansers or toothpaste. Which comes from cosmetics often follow the pipes pouring straight into the sea.

Microbeads plastic beads are available in cosmetics such as cleanser and toothpaste.

Microbeads are usually very small, not visible to the naked eye. When going to the ocean, shellfish such as clams, oysters, snails . eat right, and then go into our bodies when . on the plate. Statistically, people who regularly eat shellfish also have to digest 11,000 plastic beads a year.

Plankton eat microbeads and then become food for other animals, and finally get into our stomachs.A vicious circle.

Is it okay to swallow these plastic particles? Some experiments have shown that nano-sized plastic particles can even penetrate and destroy cells in the body . This is also the cause of the death of a large number of fish species in the world.

In addition, they can accumulate dangerous chemicals, including DDT pesticides and Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB - a group of cancer-causing chemicals) .

99% of seabirds will have to eat plastic waste in the next 50 years.

The study was published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology of the American Chemical Society.