Microparticles and microplastics contamination in African table salts
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Date
2021-01-20
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
The presence of micro/plastic particles has been reported in various seafood products. However, information on
microplastics contamination in salts from African continent is very limited. This study analysed 23 brands of
table salts from 8 African countries for microplastics using microscopic/spectroscopic techniques. South Africa
showed the highest microplastics concentration (0–1.33 ± 0.32 particles/kg), Nigeria, Cameroun, and Ghana
(0–0.33 ± 0.38 particles/kg each); characterized as polyvinyl acetate, polypropylene, and polyethylene. Other
countries have no detectable microplastics at 0.3 μm filter pore size. To our best knowledge, this is the first study
to characterize micro-fibres/plastics in table salts across African countries, confirming that it is an emission
source of micro-fibres/plastics into the human food chain, highlighting the overarching need to understand their
effects on human health.
Description
Staff Publication
Keywords
Table salt, Microplastic, Human food chain, FT-IR, SEM, Africa
Citation
Oluniyi O. Fadare, Elvis D. Okoffo, Emmanuel F. Olasehinde(2021). Microparticles and microplastics contamination in African table salts, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Volume 164https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112006.