PLASTIC IN YOUR SALT Samples From Tuticorin Salt Pans Contain Microplastics, Study Finds

SERIOUS HEALTH RISK

That plastic wrapper you flip or coffee cups you bury in beach sands could be coming back, in a different form, in your table salt.

A study by researchers in Tamil Nadu has triggered concerns that the food on our table could contain microplastics. Researchers found microplastics smaller than 100 micrometre (one micrometre is one thousandth of a millimetre) in 25 samples of salt collected from sea salt pans in Tuticorin, which are sold across the country and exported to China and Japan.

In Tuticorin, salt pans closer to the coast use seawater, stored in ponds and left to crystallise, under controlled methods. Experts said there is no separate technique to remove microplastics during the processing of raw salt.

While 60% of the pollutants studied were microplastics, a majority of them were identified as polymers- polypropylene, polyethylene, nylon and cellulose, as researchers traced their sources to domestic waste, fishing nets and textile industry waste, which are routinely dumped into the sea.

“Out of samples we collected in 25 locations, those from salt pans in Tuticorin had microplastic levels higher than those collected outside city limits. This could have a link to plastic waste dumped in Buckle Channel connecting the sea,” said Prof S Selvam, department of geology, V O Chidambaram College, Tuticorin.

So far, studies have shown evidence of microplastics in refined packaged salt. This is the first time a study has been conducted for salt pans, he said. The study was jointly conducted by researchers from various institutions like Bharathidasan University, Presidency College and universities in Vietnam and South Korea.While researchers studied crystallised salt picked up directly from the salt pans, the study did not involve analysing the same samples after processing in refineries.

Two IIT Bombay researchers had found 626 microplastic particles in salt brands in a 2018 study. 63% of microplastic particles were in the form of fragments and 37% were fibres. “As of now there are no technique where microplastics can be removed,” said Prof Amritanshu Shriwastav, one of the researchers of the 2018 study.