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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: 5, Touché) by Pslytely Psycho on Sunday October 21 2018, @11:47AM (3 children)

    by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Sunday October 21 2018, @11:47AM (#751620)

    As a truck driver, I picked many a load of salt from Salt Lake City. They mine it at the edge of the Great Salt Lake and it sits in piles while the birds add some whiteness to it and garbage is blown into from the wind. Not likely many dirty diapers but air pollution and rain full of air pollution as there is an oil refinery in the area as well. Salt mined from underground also sits above ground in huge piles before it's processed. Many of those locations have other mining or industrial activities nearby contributing to local pollution...and it all gets into the salt.

    Yeah, purdy gross.

    But most things can have a disgusting side. The stench near a sugar refinery will gag you, a strong stomach is required for meat packing or poultry production and the cereal plants in Cedar Rapids smell like burned eggs.

    Oddly enough, most waste treatment plants smell better than most food production.
    Yes nature is a filthy beast.

    Have I ruined eating entirely for you yet?

    --
    Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Informative=1, Touché=2, Total=3
    Extra 'Touché' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by koick on Sunday October 21 2018, @07:30PM (2 children)

    by koick (5420) on Sunday October 21 2018, @07:30PM (#751750)
    Since any precipitation that falls within the Great Basin [wikipedia.org] concentrates in the Great Salt Lake [wikipedia.org] that means all non-volatile pollutants (e.g. heavy metals [wikipedia.org]) do as well. Due to this lack of flushing/dilution and instead concentrating of all things, I certainly would not want to ingest salt from that area. Are you sure that salt you were hauling wasn't destined to be put in one of those 40lb bags for water softeners, meant to be spread on side walks/road ways, or used in some other industrial setting (i.e. not for human consumption)?

    It reminds me of hearing stories of people seeing all that corn growing in Iowa thinking, "Wow!, we eat a lot of corn!". When actually, except for rare, small fields of sweet corn, what you see is "field corn" [wikipedia.org], which is primarily used as livestock feed and ethanol production (with very little of it, after grinding down, consumed by humans directly).
    • (Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Monday October 22 2018, @07:38AM (1 child)

      by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Monday October 22 2018, @07:38AM (#751898)

      Both. Food grade is evaporated from the lake, while the industrial salts are mined from the basin.
      They are shipped separately as food grade can't be in the same trailers as commercial grade. And you pick them up at separate docks on opposite sides of the plant.

      It's still purdy gross!

      --
      Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Pslytely Psycho on Monday October 22 2018, @07:51AM

        by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Monday October 22 2018, @07:51AM (#751900)

        I've been retired a long time, and looking back at my photo album, I confused a plant in the Midwest with the SLC plant. You are correct, SLC salt is industrial.

        Getting old sucks.

        --
        Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.