According to this study the degree of processing is the most important variable affecting the amount of microplastics in protein. In most cases this outweighs whether the source is terrestrial or oceanic. Click here for original image of the chart. Study: Exposure Of U.S. Adults To Microplastics From Commonly-Consumed Proteins:
We investigated microplastic (MP) contamination in 16 commonly-consumed protein products (seafoods, terrestrial meats, and plant-based proteins) purchased in the United States (U.S.) with different levels of processing (unprocessed, minimally-processed, and highly-processed), brands (1 – 4 per product type, depending on availability) and store types (conventional supermarket and grocer featuring mostly natural/organic products)... Concentrations (MPs/g tissue) differed between processing levels, with highly-processed products containing significantly more MPs than minimally-processed products (p = 0.0049)
Among the minimally processed foods tested, shrimp did have a relatively high amount of microplastics, but lower than most processed foods. The other seafood tested, pollock, was low. So although microplastics in the ocean get a lot of headlines, and rightly so, based upon this sample the degree of processing is the most important variable when it comes to microplastics in protein.
How to read the box chart at top - the upper and lower whiskers represent the upper and lower quartiles, respectively. The main body represents the middle two quartiles. The black line is the median, the dividing line between the middle two quartiles. It is not necessarily in the center of the main body because the data is not evenly distributed. Note that the upper whisker on the tallest bar has been truncated.
Additional detail:
Microplastics were present in all 16 protein products and in 88% of all samples tested (98/111 samples). Six different morphologies of MPs were observed: fibers, fiber bundles, fragments, rubber, foams, and films...The significance of processing level as a driver of MP contamination in the proteins studied may be because more processed foods are subjected to greater amounts of time in the presence of or in contact with plastic food production equipment ...
Previous studies have shown variable results with respect to packaging contamination of foods and beverages. For example, Kedzierski et al. (2020) identified polystyrene tray packaging-derived MPs averaging 300–450 μm in size onto packaged poultry products (i.e., chicken breast, turkey escalope) (Kedzierski et al., 2020). Sobhani et al. (2020) reported plastic particles in the size range of 5–20 μm were released from cutting and tearing plastic food packaging. Plastic food containers have also been shown to release millions to billions of sub-micron nanoplastic (NP) particles into the food or liquid it is holding when exposed to high heat in a microwave or similar setting (Deng et al., 2022; K. A. Hussain et al., 2023) [emphasis added]
So, never heat anything in a plastic container! Easy enough to transfer it to a glass or ceramic vessel.
Bottled water is also a highly significant source of microplastics:
micro-nano plastics in bottled water are analyzed with multidimensional profiling of individual plastic particles. Quantification suggests more than 105 [100,000] particles in each liter of bottled water, the majority of which are nanoplastics
I replaced my plastic water bottle with a very nice stainless steel model long ago and I'm quite happy with it. I also store my food in glass containers. Easy changes to implement.
Other articles on DailyKos regarding plastics in food and water:
Studies find more plastic in our food and bottled water
Obesity & other plastics exposure diseases cost US economy $249billion, 1.22% GDP
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