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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday October 21 2018, @06:46AM   Printer-friendly
from the salty-about-plastic dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Microplastics were found in sea salt several years ago. But how extensively plastic bits are spread throughout the most commonly used seasoning remained unclear. Now, new research shows microplastics in 90 percent of the table salt brands sampled worldwide.

Of 39 salt brands tested, 36 had microplastics in them, according to a new analysis by researchers in South Korea and Greenpeace East Asia. Using prior salt studies, this new effort is the first of its scale to look at the geographical spread of microplastics in table salt and their correlation to where plastic pollution is found in the environment.

"The findings suggest that human ingestion of microplastics via marine products is strongly related to emissions in a given region," said Seung-Kyu Kim, a marine science professor at Incheon National University in South Korea.

[...] The new study, she says, "shows us that microplastics are ubiquitous. It's not a matter of if you are buying sea salt in England, you are safe."

The new study estimates that the average adult consumes approximately 2,000 microplastics per year through salt. What that means remains a mystery.

A separate study by the University of York in Britain that sought to assess the risks of microplastics to the environment, published Wednesday, concluded not enough is known to determine if microplastics cause harm.

[...] That new study, funded by the Personal Care Products Council, an industry trade group, was published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

Boxall added that the focus on microplastics may divert attention from worse environmental (and more easily identifiable) pollution problems, such as small particles released from car tires.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @11:14AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 21 2018, @11:14AM (#751618)

    If you live in North America, almost ALL table salt comes from salt mines from old inland seas. It's been buried for millennia. It has no issues with plastic, none, nada. And that's what most Americans, Canadians, and I suspect Mexicans and others eat.

    When you buy your salt, what sort of container does it come in?

    I'm looking at the Saxa salt container sitting here on the table in front of me, the salt is probably from a mine in Cheshire, England, was laid down in the Triassic, 220 million years ago...no plastic (that is, unless some of the more outré theories about the dinosaurs are true..)

    Pity, the container is made of plastic (HDPE with a noticeably rough to touch surface finish, both external and internally) and that the salt it contains has been crushed into fine abrasive crystals..

    Sure, we're talking microscopically small abraded quantities, but it all adds up..

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  • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Monday October 22 2018, @03:27PM

    by urza9814 (3954) on Monday October 22 2018, @03:27PM (#752003) Journal

    When you buy your salt, what sort of container does it come in?

    Unless you're buying individual pre-filled salt shakers, most salt that I see comes in cardboard cylinders or paper sacks. Sometimes small metal cans too. Can't recall ever seeing bulk salt in plastic, though I'm sure it exists...