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Removal microplastic contamination methods for raw material sea salt production: Review
Summary
This scoping review (2015-2025) mapped field-ready and emerging methods for removing microplastic contamination from sea salt during production, evaluating approaches across particle size classes, polymer types, and operating conditions. The authors propose an integrated removal train — coarse screening, lamella or dissolved air flotation, disc filtration, and polishing microfiltration — as the most robust framework, while identifying research gaps around nanoplastic removal and long-term fouling control in hypersaline environments.
Microplastic contamination in sea salt originates from entrainment of particles within high-salinity brine during saltworks operations. We conducted a scoping review (2015-2025) to map field-ready and emerging options for MP removal tailored to salt production trains. Searches in Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar identified studies reporting MP size classes, polymer types, salinity, co-contaminants, operating conditions, and removal efficiencies. Evidence shows that multi-stage physical separation-coarse screening (3-5 mm), drum/mesh filtering (1-2 mm to 100 µm), settling/lamella and dissolved air flotation (DAF), provides robust removal for fragments/fibres >100 µm. Polishing microfiltration (0.1-0.2 µm) can target smaller MPs, albeit with higher energy and fouling risk. Biological options (biofilm/microalgae) can adsorb MPs in controlled reactors but require biomass management to preserve brine quality. Chemical routes (coagulation/advanced oxidation/photocatalysis) face constraints in hypersaline matrices and potential residues. We propose a process-integrated train—screening, to lamella/DAF, disc filter, microfiltration (polishing); with monitoring of MP size spectra, salinity-dependent performance, and cost. This framework supports safer sea-salt production while highlighting research gaps in nanoplastics and long-term fouling control. This paper conclusion that various methods for microplastic removal, so physical and biological methods such as filtration and microalgae-based treatments are identified as the most promising due to their environmentally friendly and cost-effective nature to enhance quality and safety of sea salt supporting.