Many small plastic particles are released into the environment. They may come from cosmetics, textiles, tires or disintegrating plastic objects. These microplasts distribute the wind and sewage across the planet. "Seabirds will see microplasms scattered in water and some of them can remain. In shrimp and shellfish dishes, part of the microplasse gets to our plate and then into our digestive tract. That's why we've tested sea food for the presence of microplasts, " says Hana Hoffmann, Editor-in-Chief of the dTest magazine, adding: " We were interested in the extent to which artificial food is contaminated with food sold in Europe. "
According to scientific hypotheses, microplasts could increase the absorption of certain chemicals into the body. Their surface repels water and can bind to a number of chemicals such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This could be a source of true microplast toxicity from the point of view of scientists. In addition, the research also deals with the mechanical action of plastic particles in the body.
In addition to the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Denmark, Spain, Belgium, Finland and Austria, the international team has sent samples of sea salt, shells and shrimps purchased in different European countries to a specialized laboratory to determine if they contain microplastic particles .
The analysis examined 29 crustacean samples, 35 shell samples and 39 sea salt samples. Microplastic particles were loaded with about two-thirds of the samples tested in each of the categories. "Most microplastic particles - more than 30 pieces in 100 g - the laboratory found in the samples of sea salt fleur de sel, in translation is a salty flower. The reason for higher plastic pollution could be a way of treating sea water slowly evaporating in shallow pans near the sea, " says Hana Hoffmann, adding: " This type of salt is considered to be the most delicious and one of the most expensive. But do not lose salt sea salt. The industrially produced salt contained six times less plastic microparticles than fleur de sel. "
According to expert studies, particles up to 10 μm can penetrate the intestinal tissue up to the lymphatic and immune systems. The highest proportion of "pass-through" microplast particles revealed by the laboratory in the salt fleur de sel, 20%. In shells and crustaceans, less - about 5% - were found. For human health, riskier microplasts could be inhaled from the air. Here, on the contrary, it turns out that the larger the particles, the worse the impact on the lungs. While particles of small size can be exhaled back, possibly pulmonary cleansing mechanisms, they may be large in the lungs.
What are microplastics? Typical examples are artificial fibers, such as loose clothing or plastic garb from 100 nanometers to half centimeters in size.
Complete results of the test can be found at www.dtest.cz/mikroplasty .
Source: tz dTest.cz
