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Visualized analysis of microplastics in residents' diets and regional investigation of China
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Researchers developed an infrared spectral imaging method to detect microplastics in complex food samples without destroying them, then used it to survey dietary microplastic exposure across regions of China. They found microplastics present in a wide variety of foods, with concentrations varying by food type and geographic location. The study provides new data on how much microplastic people may be consuming through their everyday diets.
Microplastics are widely distributed in ecosystems and are increasingly found in food. This poses a potential threat to human health. However, current detections of microplastic in food primarily focused on the simple matrices, such as water, milk, and beverages, with relatively few methods available for complex matrices. Due to the strong matrix interference, non-destructive detection of microplastics in food has always been challenging. Thus, in this study, infrared spectral imaging approach was employed in tandem with chemometrics to perform nondestructive and in-situ characterization of microplastics in twelve diverse Chinese diets including meat and seafood stuffs. Results demonstrate that the proposed method can efficiently characterize common microplastics, such as polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyethylene (PE), etc., in various complex matrices. The IR spectral imaging was subsequently applied to the detection of microplastics in seafood samples collected from 24 provinces across China. Results revealed the widespread presence of microplastics in seafood diets with significant regional variations. Overall, this study offers an innovative and applicable means for detecting microplastics in complex foods and provides a reference for the rapid detection of microplastics in various materials.
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Methods for identifying microplastics in food systems
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Identifying microplastics in food is technically challenging because food matrices are complex and particles can be very small. This review covers the main methods scientists use — from simple visual inspection to sophisticated techniques like Raman spectroscopy and infrared imaging — and evaluates their strengths and limitations in the context of food safety. The authors conclude that Raman microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy are currently the gold-standard approaches for detecting and confirming the chemical identity of microplastics in food and agricultural products.
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Researchers tested five brands of store-bought rice and found plastic microparticles in all of them regardless of packaging type, with concentrations as high as 12 particles per gram of rice. Using simple optical microscopy and infrared spectroscopy, the study shows that a low-cost screening method can quickly distinguish true microplastics from other particles like rice starch or cellulose, an important step toward routine food safety monitoring.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.