Study finds kitchen salt contains microplastics

A recently published study identified the presence of microplastic in sea salt, commonly used in cooking. The research is the result of a collaboration between Greenpeace and the South Korean University of Incheon. The researchers badyzed 39 samples of cooking salt from various countries, including Italy, and 36 of them found plastic fragments less than 5 millimeters in size.
The results of the study were published in the international journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Microplastics and pollution

The study examined samples of sea salt, mine and lake. Scientists have seen the presence of polyethylene, polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). These are the types of plastics most used in the production of single-use packaging.
"Many studies have already shown the presence of plastic in fish and seafood, in tap water and in cooking salt," says Giusseppe Ungherese, head of the pollution control campaign of the Italian division of Greenpeace. "This research confirms the seriousness of plastic pollution and shows that it is now impossible for us to avoid such contamination," says the expert. "It is necessary to put an end to pollution at the root and it is essential that large companies do their part to significantly reduce the use of disposable plastic to package their products," concludes the Hungarian.

The release of plastic in the seas

This international study is the first large-scale study on the topic of microplastics in kitchen salt. The results obtained made it possible to establish a correlation between the sodium chloride pollution levels and the plastic discharges in the seas. Among the samples badyzed, the highest contamination was found among those in Asia.
The badysis of sea salt allowed the researchers to observe a strong presence of microplastics (between 0 and 1674 per kilo). In samples from salt lakes and mines, the concentration of microplastics was lower: between 28 and 462 per kilo in the first case and between 0 and 148 per kilogram in the second case.

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