The next time you reach for the salt shaker, think again. This is because too much salt can be unhealthy, but at the same time it seems that research conducted by researchers in South Korea and Greenpeace East Asia have found that a worrying 90% of table salt contains microplastics.The researchers tested 39 salt brands and found that 36 of those brands contained microplastics. The brands tested came from all over the world, and interestingly enough the three brands that did not contain microplastics came from Taiwan, China, and France. The research also found that the brands from Asia tend to have higher quantities of microplastic in them.
The research also found that the average adult consumes about 2,000 microplastics a year through salt. Now the idea of consuming anything plastic sounds pretty bad, but what’s interesting is that to date scientists have yet to determine how harmful ingesting microplastics can be to humans, although studies involving mice have shown that it is most likely not good for our bodies.
According to Professor Seung-Kyu Kim, one of the authors of the study, “The findings suggest that human ingestion of microplastics via marine products is strongly related to plastic emissions in a given region. In order to limit our exposure to microplastics, preventative measures are required, such as controlling the environmental discharge of mismanaged plastics and more importantly, reducing plastic waste.”
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