According to a study, all types of salt and sugar brands across India, big or small, packaged or unpackaged, contain microplastics, says an ET report citing PTI.
The study, “Microplastics in Salt and Sugar” was conducted by the environmental research organisation Toxics Link. Ten types of salt, including table salt, rock salt, sea salt, and local raw salt, and five types of sugar purchased from various online and local markets were tested.
This study reported that all salt and sugar samples contained microplastics in different forms, such as fibre, pellets, films, and fragments. Their sizes ranged from 0.1 mm to 5 mm.
Multiple-coloured thin fibre and films were the microplastic particles found most in iodised salt.
PTI has quoted Toxics Link founder-director Ravi Agarwal saying, “The objective of our study was to contribute to the existing scientific database on microplastics so that the global plastic treaty can address this issue in a concrete and focussed manner.”
The mass concentration of microplastics in the salt samples ranged from 6.71 through 89.15 pieces per kilogramme of dry weight, says the report, adding that the microplastic mass concentration ranged from 11.85 to 68.25 pieces per kilogramme with a view that the highest concentration was in non-organic sugar.
