
Microplastics found in 90 percent of table salt - Shivetya
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/microplastics-found-90-percent-table-salt-sea-salt/?user.testname=none
======
subcosmos
This is getting absolutely rediculous ...

Epoxy resins may very well have created the Diabetes epidemic, with genetic
data backing it. [https://bit.ly/2J3Btq5](https://bit.ly/2J3Btq5)

And the chemical used to make Teflon was dumped into the Mississippi river
valley for years, leading to a spate of birth defects and other more common
medical problems. Dupont paid hundreds of millions :
[https://bit.ly/2fFAw9Q](https://bit.ly/2fFAw9Q)

Carlin had it right ....
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c)

~~~
crescentfresh
Off topic, but I don't enjoy listening to Carlin. I feel like he must be an
acquired taste because he's so loved. He's called the inspiration of many of
my own favorite comedians, but when I listen to him to me he sounds like a
really smart and insightful/philosophical person....rambling angrily. His sets
don't set me up for a tension-breaking punchline like my brain expects.

End ramble.

~~~
erikpukinskis
That makes sense to me. He is from a different time when there was just less
audible chaos being pumped into our lives.

You could easily go a whole day without someone throwing a hyper-edited
escalating sonic experience at you. Now, after decades of movie trailers one-
upping each other and those editing capabilities being distributed to
teenagers, we are maximally sonically marinated and we expect some politeness
when people are trying to deliver sound bites.

In Carlin’s time watching an act like his was possibly the most exciting
verbal experience you would be exposed to that week, if not that year. We
cherished the performers who could dial up to 12 without losing coherence
because it was rare and exciting.

Now it sounds overblown and maybe a little aggressive to a modern ear.

------
burlesona
This kind of stuff makes me wonder if plastics are to us as lead was to the
romans. To useful to avoid even though we know it has risks, but perhaps we
don’t appreciate the risks fully... and it’s very difficult to precisely
measure exposure or to know how much is safe. The world is complicated. :/

~~~
Duns_Scotus
Yeah, except the "theory" that the fall of the Roman Empire was caused by lead
exposure has been thoroughly debunked multiple times: not only were the Romans
well-aware of lead poisoning, they also understood that lead piping is
(generally) safe, Flint aside.

~~~
burlesona
My understanding is that lead exposure was more due to cooking with lead
cookware. But yes they knew lead was dangerous, and we know that plastics are
dangerous. The question is HOW dangerous. We know now that lead exposure was
worse than they realized. Will future people look back on us the same way?

------
CompelTechnic
The title of the original article published in Environmental Science and
Technology, along with a bit of the abstract:

Global Pattern of Microplastics (MPs) in Commercial Food-Grade Salts: Sea Salt
as an Indicator of Seawater MP Pollution

A total of 39 different salt brands produced at geospatially different sites,
including 28 sea salt brands from 16 countries/regions on six continents, were
investigated. A wide range of MP content (in number of MPs per kg of salt;
n/kg) was found: 0–1674 n/kg (excluding one outlier of 13 629 n/kg) in sea
salts, 0–148 n/kg in rock salt, and 28–462 n/kg in lake salt.

\-------------------------

I would tend to think that if you want to avoid these microplastics, eat rock
salt, not sea salt. Much lower concentration of microplastics, which I am
suprised are even present at all, really. I don't imagine the rock salt
producers are allowing a whole bunch of plastic manufacturing equipment to
abrade directly into the product. Not really sure what the n/kg unit
represents, though (is it nanograms per kilogram?).

~~~
semi-extrinsic
n/kg looks to be "number of microplastic particles per kg".

As you suggest, the rock salt microplastics are not caused by ocean
microplastic pollution. So those numbers represent the "background noise", and
if you will, microplastics found in sea salt are 20-30 dB above the "noise
floor."

~~~
semi-extrinsic
Did some more digging, and another study [1] on microplastics in shellfish
gives this highly informative comparison:

"""Exposure during meals via dust fallout in a household is estimated at
13,731–68,415 particles per year"""

So to match microplastic intake from dust falling on your food while eating,
you'd have to consume at least 10 kg of salt per year in the case where your
salt is fairly contaminated and your house is fairly clean (otherwise it would
be even higher). FDA says salt intake should be below 1.5 kg (preferrably
below 0.8 kg) per year.

[1]
[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026974911...](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117344445)

------
shironineja
It is pervasive in our ecosystem. There is no escaping microplastics if you
are part of the human experience.

It is in the air you breathe:

[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S246858441...](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468584417300119)

I wonder about our insect friends who have been recently disappearing:

[https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2018/09/29/microp...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2018/09/29/microplastics-
contaminate-half-of-all-freshwater-insects-study-shows/#5587835b6d38)

~~~
hinkley
The compost from the city yard waste collection facilities is _full_ of pea
sized pieces of plastic, especially produce code stickers. If there’s plastic
I can see and pick out, you just know there’s a bunch you can’t.

What do you suppose it would take to get plastic produce stickers banned in
favor of biodegradable versions?

~~~
tachyonbeam
Either an outright ban, or taxes that gradually increase. However, what's also
needed is an alternative that's readily available and not ridiculously
overpriced. With produce stickers, I'm actually thinking: are stickers on
produce actually useful/necessary? If we really care to tag products, could we
just laser engrave them quickly?

~~~
r00fus
Yeah, laser engraving has become a lot cheaper. However, it can't be mass-
produced before the fruit (and labor to engrave is likely to be way more
expensive).

~~~
chongli
Laser engraving produce is not labour intensive at all. It can be done easily
by machines on a conveyor belt.

------
NikolaeVarius
I'm actually pleased that the article points out that we don't even know if
eating microplastics even matter.

I totally expected it to default to the assumption that eating the plastic is
by default harmful via magic

~~~
dxhdr
> I totally expected it to default to the assumption that eating the plastic
> is by default harmful via magic

I agree, as an optimist I believe that consuming inorganic compounds is by
default healthy!

More seriously, I believe we should be very concerned about chemicals with
unknown biological effects entering our food supply.

~~~
sk5t
Say what you will about plastic, but it is definitely composed of organic
molecules.

~~~
ItsMe000001
The main ingredient yes, but there is other stuff added to get specific
properties.

[https://www.plasticsintl.com/blog/what-are-the-
ingredients-i...](https://www.plasticsintl.com/blog/what-are-the-ingredients-
in-plastics/)

Just like "metal" isn't 100% Fe atoms (or Cu or whatever the base metal or
metals is/are).

------
shobith
Kurzgesagt had a nice video on plastics:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS7IzU2VJIQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS7IzU2VJIQ)

it is a scary situation!

------
nubela
How can I buy salt that does not have this?

~~~
ceejayoz
Easiest way is probably to get the pink salt from the Himalayas. The health
claims around it are bogus, but as it's mined from the mountains (and usually
sold in a highly unrefined format) it's fairly unlikely ocean microplastics
have wound up in it. It's also readily identifiable in a way white chunks of
salt aren't.

> In another indicator of the geographic density of plastic pollution,
> microplastics levels were highest in sea salt, followed by lake salt and
> then rock salt.

~~~
mtgx
Isn't there a slight worry that since it's not refined it might contain other
harmful stuff? I admit I only read this once in passing and didn't investigate
further.

Also, does the Himalayan salt contain iodine? Because otherwise you may soon
get a iodine deficiency. The reason iodine is added in table salt in the first
place is because most people would be deficient otherwise.

~~~
ceejayoz
Even before iodized salt, goiters were location dependent. The modern diet
likely contains enough iodine from other sources - seafood, dairy, eggs,
processed foods - that non-iodized table salt isn't likely to matter much.

[https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/cut-salt-it-
wont...](https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/cut-salt-it-wont-affect-
your-iodine-intake)

~~~
ksenzee
True - but the modern diet probably also contains enough microplastics from
other sources that avoiding them in salt isn't likely to matter much. :(

------
gruez
how do microplastics get into rock salt? since they're from ancient evaporated
seas/lakes, shouldn't they be plastic free?

~~~
falcolas
A number of salt mining techniques involves piping in water to dissolve the
salt, then evaporating the water out of the salt.

~~~
growlist
This is how it used to be done in parts of Cheshire, which had the interesting
effect of leaving large voids under parts of some towns and consequent
subsidence. The solution was to effectively underpin whole areas by pumping in
massive quantities of grout (a £28m job in y2k) whilst simultaneously pumping
out the brine.

~~~
slavik81
The Lake Peigneur accident is an example of this happening very, very quickly.
It's quite a thing to see:
[https://youtu.be/3cXnxGIDhOA](https://youtu.be/3cXnxGIDhOA)

From Wikipedia:

> On Thursday, November 20, 1980, an oil rig contracted by Texaco accidentally
> drilled into the Diamond Crystal Salt Company salt mine under the lake.
> [....] The resultant whirlpool sucked in the drilling platform, eleven
> barges, many trees and 65 acres (26 ha) of the surrounding terrain.

> The backwards flow of the normally outflowing Delcambre Canal temporarily
> created the biggest waterfall in Louisiana.

~~~
amatecha
Whoa, that's terrifying! It has me wondering though -- isn't it kind of a bad
idea to set up an underground mine directly underneath a large lake?!

------
polymath21
It seems increasingly likely with every one of these reports that our usage of
plastics has lead to the large drop in sperm counts the last few decades:
[https://www.gq.com/story/sperm-count-zero](https://www.gq.com/story/sperm-
count-zero)

Handmaid's tale, anyone?

------
i_am_nomad
I’ve been feeling more and more guilty about my 3D printing hobby lately;
possibly this is the last straw, and it’s now time for me to sell off my gear.

~~~
ravenstine
Why? Is it because you think your hobby is putting microplastics into the
environment, or because you're helping to fund the plastic industry? I'm not
criticizing you, but just wondering.

~~~
i_am_nomad
The former. Some studies have suggested that 3D printing is especially bad
about emitting fine-particulate plastic.

~~~
Xylakant
If you’re concerned about that, just drive less. A recent study in germany
asserts that the biggest chunk of microplastik is from car tires, which alone
is responsible for about 1kg/person /year. You’ll have to 3D print a lot of
stuff to get even close. (Sorry, german only) [https://www.mdr.de/wissen/mehr-
mikroplastik-durch-reifenabri...](https://www.mdr.de/wissen/mehr-mikroplastik-
durch-reifenabrieb-als-durch-kosmetik-und-kleidung-100.html)

~~~
i_am_nomad
Thanks! As it is I barely drive at all, and clearly I wasn't really basing my
concerns on actual data (and not for the first time).

------
DSingularity
“Microplastic content varies dramatically among different brand of salts and
is especially high in those consumed in Asia. Based on an average microplastic
content of 506 MP/kg for all salt samples including an Indonesian outlier
sample, it’s estimated that an average adult consumes approximately 2,000 MPs
per year through salt.”

Need to find a micro plastic free salt ASAP.

------
dharma1
Will biodegradable plastics solve plastic waste eventually?

What are the main blockers stopping this from happening sooner rather than
later?

~~~
jazzyjackson
You can search for "PLA vs ABS" \- biodegradable vs permanent plastics and the
main players in 3D printing so there's a lot written for a laymen audience
about their pros and cons.

LEGO is trying really hard to introduce biodegradable plastics into their
product line and have written about the struggle to produce something that is
as permanent as they want it to be (so you can hand your LEGOs down to your
grandchildren) while making them from plant sources, which is different, but
related.

But basically all the resin / petro plastics win out in strength, durability,
UV resistance, etc etc -- so there's a lot of products that can be made from
bioplastics but you won't see fiberglass boat hulls being composted anytime
soon.

------
TaylorGood
So what about all the salt found in foods we like? Are they a byproduct of
other ingredients or using this contaminated salt?

------
purplezooey
That site is horrible. It autoplays some loud video that talks about Sam Neil.
Nearly made me jump out of my seat.

------
polskibus
What about salt from salt mines? Is it safe?

~~~
samirm
I'm assuming that's rock salt and it's mentioned in the article as having the
least amount of microplastics on average.

------
NeoBasilisk
"But the free market..."

------
rdlecler1
What are the three brands? Is this list anywhere before the paywall?

------
choot
I use Himalayan Pink rock salt. It comes from Punjab. I wonder if it's
affected too.

------
nstj
Corollary statistic: Microplastics found in 90% of HN posts

~~~
CNJ7654
It's estrogenic effects are readily apparent

------
givan
Why add a rock to your food just to enhance taste? Sodium is naturally present
in all plants and meat no need for extra intake and besides that huge quantity
of sodium that is taken from the salt that is added in every non sweet food
messes up your body at cellular level

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na%2B/K%2B-ATPase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na%2B/K%2B-ATPase)

~~~
ip26
_Sodium is naturally present in all plants and meat no need for extra intake_

It doesn't appear there by magic. Many wild animals _love_ their salt licks,
and for some licking rocks is their primary source.

But anyway, by your argument virtually all spices are pointless. I can't
really get behind that.

~~~
givan
Spices are plants

~~~
ip26
With no added nutritional value that isn't already there in your food

