Microplastic Pollution in Table Salts from China.
Microplastics have been found in seas all over the world. We hypothesize that sea salts might contain microplastics, because they are directly supplied by seawater. To test our hypothesis, we collected 15 brands of sea salts, lake salts, and rock/well salts from supermarkets throughout China. The microplastics content was 550-681 particles/kg in sea salts, 43-364 particles/kg in lake salts, and 7-204 particles/kg in rock/well salts. In sea salts, fragments and fibers were the prevalent types of particles compared with pellets and sheets. Microplastics measuring less than 200 μm represented the majority of the particles, accounting for 55% of the total microplastics, and the most common microplastics were polyethylene terephthalate, followed by polyethylene and cellophane in sea salts. The abundance of microplastics in sea salts was significantly higher than that in lake salts and rock/well salts. This result indicates that sea products, such as sea salts, are contaminated by microplastics. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on microplastic pollution in abiotic sea products.
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200062, China.
Dongqi
D
Yang
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200062, China.
Huahong
H
Shi
Research Center for Analysis and Measurement, Donghua University , Shanghai 201620, China.
Lan
L
Li
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200062, China.
Jiana
J
Li
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200062, China.
Khalida
K
Jabeen
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University , Shanghai 200062, China.
Prabhu
P
Kolandhasamy
D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D060106:Lakes / Q000737:chemistry; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis*; D020959:Polyethylene / Q000032:analysis; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D010969:Plastics; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D020959:Polyethylene