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posted by hubie on Tuesday May 23 2023, @01:43AM   Printer-friendly

Plastic pervasive in food supply, says new study:

Micro and nanoplastics are pervasive in our food supply and may be affecting food safety and security on a global scale, a new study led by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, has found.

The study is one of the first to analyze the academic literature on microplastics from a food safety and food security risk viewpoint, building on past studies which primarily tracked plastics in fish.

It shows that plastics and their additives are present at a range of concentrations not only in fish but in many products including meat, chicken, rice, water, take-away food and drink, and even fresh produce.

CSIRO analytical chemist, food safety specialist and lead author of the paper, Dr. Jordi Nelis, said these plastics enter the human food chain through numerous pathways, such as ingestion as shown in the fish studies, but one of the main ways is through food processing and packaging. The research is published in the journal TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry.

[...] There are currently no definitive studies that demonstrate micro and nanoplastics in the environment cause harm to humans, however more research is needed to fully understand health effects.

[...] "The key missing information is determining safe levels of microplastics. We currently don't know exactly what the microplastic flux through the food system is or which levels can be considered safe," Dr. Nelis said.

Journal Reference:
Joost L.D. Nelis et al, The measurement of food safety and security risks associated with micro- and nanoplastic pollution, TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2023.116993


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday May 23 2023, @02:02AM (2 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday May 23 2023, @02:02AM (#1307524) Journal

    I grew up in a world with few plastics. Plastics were cheap versions of stuff, that poor people could buy if they couldn't afford the real thing. Like Tupperware. Tupperware sucked, way back then.

    Mom fixes a pot of spaghetti or something. Tomato sauce, some beef, with the requisite grease in the sauce. You can wash a wooden plate, and it would come clean. Wash a china or bone china plate, and it comes clean. Wash a cheap fired clay plate, and it comes clean. Wash an even cheaper melnac plate, and it came clean. Tupperware? The damned thing was permanently stained red, and it felt greasy forever after.

    I didn't like plastic tableware when I was a mouthy six year old, and I don't like plastic today.

    And, how 'bout all those non-stick pots and pans? After a couple years, the non-stick stuff is gone. Where'd it go? YOU ATE IT DUMMY!! Where else did you think it went? It slowly got mixed into your food, and down your gullet!

    Give me a plain old copper kettle to cook in, and the cheapest, most shoddily made earthenware to eat off of, and I'll be quite happy, thank you. I prefer my cutlery and utensils to be steel, thank you. Look at those cutesy spatulas and things, safe for non-stick pots and pans. After a couple years, they also get worn around the edges. Where'd all THAT plastic go? Again, YOU ATE IT DUMMY!!

    And, here we are today, asking what safe levels of plastic are. I'd prefer washing the DDT off of my vegetables, to being unable to remove the plastics from my food.

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  • (Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Tuesday May 23 2023, @08:24AM

    by shrewdsheep (5215) on Tuesday May 23 2023, @08:24AM (#1307618)

    YOU ATE IT DUMMY!!

    I believe the smaller part of the wear debris is being eaten, while the majority of stuff is ground away in the dishwasher or by aggressive treatment of non-adhesive surfaces. I do agree with your general sentiment, though. I do use plastic for storing left-overs and I do not have a reasonable replacement for that. You are absolutely right about the grease, though I do not see this as a problem. The grease being fatty dissolves in the plastic which is not nice but also not problematic as long as the plastic is cleaned to not leave grease on a paper towel.

  • (Score: 2) by istartedi on Tuesday May 23 2023, @08:36AM

    by istartedi (123) on Tuesday May 23 2023, @08:36AM (#1307619) Journal

    I have a cast iron skillet I inherited from my parents. The "YOU ATE IT DUMMY" thing actually works in your favor with cast iron. You eat iron. Your body needs iron. There are some rare conditions where you can get too much iron, and shouldn't use one; but if you're one of those people I think you bioaccumulate iron no matter what.

    Yes, it's harder to avoid some sticky things. So what? It's part of the seasoning process, and if you get junk that's not part of the seasoning you scour it a bit (but not too much) or scrape it off with a spoon.

    Oh, but that's work. There's a reason sloth is one of the deadly sins. Enjoy whatever the PFOAs do to you because you're too lazy to scrape a pan.

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