Microplastic pollution threat in table salt that an abiotic sea product

Abstract

In the nature, the plastics are broken down to smaller pieces, producing microplastics (<5mm), through exposure to elements such as air, wind, sunlight, water, as well as due to anthropogenic effects. Microplastic pollution is a problem that we are just beginning to understand. Even though an increase in the number of studies on microplastic pollution in the environment and in water has seen some increase recently, studies focusing on microplastic pollutions in food, and their effect on health are few and far between. Table salt is obtained from natural resources such as the sea, lakes, and rocks (wells), using very simple production techniques. As an abiotic aquatic product, salt is a widely used foodstuff, constituting one leg of the so-called "three whites". The present study analyzed the level of microplastic pollution in tablesalts (food), deemed a basic foodstuff, and procured from the supermarkets in Turkey. The analyses revealed that the microplastic counts observed in table salt samples are not negligible at all. The amounts of average MP in rock salt, sea salt and lake salt were found to be 28, 56 and 63, respectively.