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Microplastic Burden, Polymer Composition, Morphology, and Screening-Level Polymeric Hazard in Dairy Products Collected in Multan, Pakistan
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Researchers tested 86 dairy samples (flavoured milk, yogurt, cheese, milk) from Multan, Pakistan for microplastics. Flavoured milk had the highest particle counts, followed by yogurt, cheese, and milk, with PET the most common plastic type and fragments the most common shape. A calculated hazard score did not differ significantly between product types.
Microplastics (MPs) are increasingly reported in foods, yet comparative data across commonly consumed dairy products remain limited in South Asia. This cross-sectional study evaluated MP polymer counts and particle morphology in 86 dairy product samples collected in Multan, Pakistan, during January 2026, comprising flavoured milk (n = 16), yogurt (n = 59), cheese (n = 4), and milk (n = 7). Because several variables were non-normally distributed and group sizes were unequal, comparisons were made using the Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn-Bonferroni post-hoc comparisons. Flavoured milk had the highest total polymer burden (42.06 ± 4.65 particles/100 mL), followed by yogurt (29.34 ± 7.64), cheese (20.25 ± 1.50), and milk (18.57 ± 8.96; H = 37.10, P < 0.001). Across all samples, PET contributed the largest share of measured polymers (32.7%), followed by PS (25.7%), PE (20.8%), and PP (20.7%). Fragments were the dominant morphology (39.2%), followed by fibers (34.4%) and pellets (26.4%). A screening-level polymeric hazard index, calculated from polymer proportions and published polymer hazard scores, averaged 11.47 ± 1.10 and did not differ significantly among product categories (P = 0.112). The results indicate clear product-category differences in MP abundance, with flavoured milk consistently showing the greatest counts. These findings should be interpreted as occurrence and comparative screening data rather than evidence of toxicological risk, and future studies should integrate validated quality-control recovery, particle-size distribution, packaging information, and source-apportionment analyses.
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