Study Finds That 90% Of Table Salt Contains Tiny Pieces Of Plastic
We now know that salt isn’t quite the enemy it has been made out to be when it comes to your blood pressure, but it could be having another negative impact on your health as a new study shows that 90 percent of the table salt used around the world contains tiny pieces of plastic.
It’s a startling finding, but it’s not all that unbelievable when you think about it. After all, oceans, seas and other bodies of water around the world are widely contaminated with microplastics these days, and much of the salt we use comes from this water.
In fact, of all the types of salt tested, sea salt was found to contain the highest levels of plastics, followed by salt from lakes and rock salt that is mined from salt deposits underground. These microplastics are small pieces of plastic that measure less than 5 millimeters, and they’re formed when larger items like plastic bottles break down.
The study, which was carried out by researchers at Incheon National University in South Korea and published in Environmental Science & Technology, looked at 39 brands of salt taken from 21 different countries. The findings suggest that the average adult is ingesting around 2,000 microplastics every year thanks to its presence in the planet’s bodies of water.
Not surprisingly, the levels of plastic pollution in particular geographical areas have been linked to the amount of microplastics those living there ingest each year.
For example, past studies have shown that Indonesia has the second highest level of plastic pollution in the world; the new study found the country’s table salts to have the highest microplastic contamination.
Just three table salts examined in the study did not contain microplastics: an unrefined French sea salt that was created by solar evaporation, a refined Chinese rock salt, and a refined Taiwanese sea salt. Names of specific brands were not disclosed. While microplastics have been found in sea salt sold in the U.S., U.K., Spain, and France, Asia is home to some of the world’s worst plastic pollution.
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