Microplastics in Salt and Drinking Water

Microplastics have become a widespread environmental pollutant. They have entered the food chain via marine and freshwater aquatic food sources, sea salt, and drinking water, posing a threat to human food safety and health. At present, limited global information is available on microplastic contamination in drinking water. Variations in microplastic contamination in drinking water from different sources may result due to geographic location, seasonality, source water, processing techniques, packaging materials, and transport methods. In bottled drinking water, packaging materials, carbonization, bottle age, cleaning processes, and reusability of bottles are considered major entry paths for microplastics. Commercial salts can also be considered a long-term human exposure route to microplastics. Accurate and harmonized practices to sample, extract, and detect microplastics allow comparability of results among researchers, leading to better access to their impact on human health.