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The presence of microplastics in commercial salts from different countries

Ali Karami, Abolfazl Golieskardi, Cheng Keong Choo

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Vincent Larat, Tamara S. Galloway, Babak Salamatinia

2017 · Scientific Reports

Physics
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From the abstract

AbstractThe occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in saltwater bodies is relatively well studied, but nothing is known about their presence in most of the commercial salts that are widely consumed by humans across the globe. Here, we extracted MP-like particles larger than 149 μm from 17 salt brands originating from 8 different countries followed by the identification of their polymer composition using micro-Raman spectroscopy. Microplastics were absent in one brand while others contained between 1 to 10 MPs/Kg of salt. Out of the 72 extracted particles, 41.6% were plastic polymers, 23.6% were pigments, 5.50% were amorphous carbon, and 29.1% remained unidentified. The particle size (mean ± SD) was 515 ± 171 μm. The most common plastic polymers were polypropylene (40.0%) and polyethylene (33.3%). Fragments were the primary form of MPs (63.8%) followed by filaments (25.6%) and films (10.6%). According to our results, the low level of anthropogenic particles intake from the salts (maximum 37 particles per individual per annum) warrants negligible health impacts. However, to better understand the health risks associated with salt consumption, further development in extraction protocols are needed to isolate anthropogenic particles smaller than 149 μm.

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myshpa
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Microplastics found in 90 percent of table salt https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/micro... The presence of microplastics in commercial salts from different countries [2017] https://www.nature.com/articles/srep46173 Global Pattern of Microplastics (MPs) in Commercial Food-Grade Salts: Sea Salt as an Indicator of Seawater MP Pollution [2018] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.8b04180 Microplastic pollution in commercial salt for human consumption: A review [2019] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331006661_Microplas... "MPs have been found in commercial salts from 128 brands, from 38 different countries spanning over five continents."
Original comment Why is desalination so difficult?
aspenmayer
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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/micro... Global Pattern of Microplastics (MPs) in Commercial Food-Grade Salts: Sea Salt as an Indicator of Seawater MP Pollution Ji-Su Kim, Hee-Jee Lee, Seung-Kyu Kim, and Hyun-Jung Kim Environmental Science & Technology 2018 52 (21), 12819-12828 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b04180 Resolves to: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.8b04180 Karami, A., Golieskardi, A., Keong Choo, C. et al. The presence of microplastics in commercial salts from different countries. Sci Rep 7, 46173 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep46173 Resolves to: https://www.nature.com/articles/srep46173
Original comment Egypt has managed to plant trees in the desert using wastewater

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