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Data for Microplastics from consumer plastic food containers: Are we consuming it?
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This dataset accompanies a study measuring microplastics inside newly manufactured, sealed consumer plastic food containers and disposable cups purchased in Beijing. The data showed that new plastic containers can release microplastics even before use, raising concerns that food stored in plastic packaging may be contaminated from the container itself.
Microplastics (MPs) pollution have become a major global concern. Attention is being given to the sources of human exposure to microplastics as one of the preliminary steps in understanding the possible health risk of these ubiquitous emerging pollutants. The data presented here were derived from sealed consumer plastic food containers and disposable cup that were purchased from two local supermarket in Beijing. The weights of the plastic containers and disposable cup were determined. After that, the MPs inside the newly manufactured plastic containers and disposable cup were extracted through ultrapure water. The extracted particles were recovered through freeze drying and then characterized using FT-IR and SEM. The particles were later quantified and the mass of MPs obtained per pack and individual container were estimated. The implications of the data obtained were discussed in our main article.
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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.