Did you know that you're eating microplastics?

The fact that, every year, humans pour 5 to 13 million tons of plastic into the oceans is starting to harm the sea products we consume.

 

The conclusion is from a study led by Professor Ali Karami of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences of Putra University in Malaysia. In an article published in the journal Nature, the expert explains that the plastic lying in the sea breaks down into tiny particles, the so-called microplastics, which then return to the earth via, for example, salt.

 

To carry out the study, the researchers extracted and analyzed microplastic particles from 17 salt brands originating in eight different countries.

 

According to the study, only one brand had no presence of microplastics. The others had between one and 10 microplastics per kilo of salt.

 

 

Of the 72 particles removed from the samples, 41.6% were plastic polymers, 23.6% were pigments and 5.5% were free carbon, and 29.1% could not be identified.

 

"Microplastics can be a health concern because they are made up of dangerous chemicals and microorganisms," the report said.

 

Professor Ali Kamari also points out that "further advances in isolation techniques are needed to quantify microplastic particles before a more accurate assessment of the impacts of salt consumption is made."

 

"The results of this study do not show a significant load of microplastics [...] and therefore do not show health risks associated with salt consumption," the researcher said.