Table 1.
Occurrence and quantification of microplastics in foods and beverages.
| Sample | Sampling Location | Abundance Average (Range) |
Size Range |
Polymer Type |
Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seafood | |||||
| European anchovies | Mediterranean Sea (Gulf of Lions) | - | 0.124–0.438 mm | PE, styrene/acrylonitrile | [123] |
| Bivalves (Mytilus edulis and Crassostrea gigas) |
Germany and Brittany (FR) | 0.36–0.47 particles g−1 | >0.005 mm | - | [136] |
| Mussels (Mytilus edulis) | French–Belgian–Dutch coastline (FR, BE, NL) | 0.2–0.5 particles g−1 | 0.015–1 mm | - | [135] |
| Dogfish, hake, red mullet | Galician coast, Cantabrian coast, Gulf of Cadiz, Spanish Mediterranean coast (ES) | 1.56 ± 0.5 particles/individual |
0.38–3.1 mm | - | [121] |
| Semipelagic fish | Mallorca and Eivissa (Balearic Islands, ES) | 3.75 (2.47–4.89) particles/individual |
0.5 mm | - | [132] |
| Pelagic and demersal fish |
Plymouth (UK) | 1.90 particles/individual |
0.13–14.3 mm | PA, cellulose, RY | [131] |
| Benthic and pelagic fish |
Portugal coast (PT) | 0.27 ±0.63 particles/individual |
0.217–4.81 (average 2.11) mm |
PP, PE, ALK, RY, PES, NY | [133] |
| Different fish species |
Mediterranean coast of Turkey (TR) | 2.36 particles/individual |
average 0.656 mm | polystyrene: isoprene, PE, PP | [126] |
| Red mullet (Mullus surmuletus) |
Palma, Port d’Andratx, Port d’Alcúdia, Cala Ratjada and Santanyí (Mallorca, ES) | (0.32–0.68) particles/individual |
- | PET, CPH, Polyacrylate, PAN | [120] |
| Deep benthic invertebrates | Rockall Trough, Scotland (UK) | 1.582 ± 0.448 particles g−1 | 0.023–6.25 (average 1.191) mm |
ALK, PES | [124] |
| Benthic organisms | South Yellow Sea (North China and South Korea, CN, KR) | (1.7–47.0) particles g−1 | 0.05–5 mm | PP, PE, PS, PET, NY | [137] |
| Mussels (Mytilus edulis) |
Coastal water of China (CN) | 0.9–4.6 particles/individual 1.5–7.6 particles g−1 |
0.033–4.7 mm | CPH, PET, PES | [129] |
| Different fish species |
Rapa Nui (Easter Island, CL) | 2.5 particles/individual |
0.2–5 mm | PE, PP | [134] |
| Bivalve (oyster, mussel, Manila clam and scallop) | South Korea (KR) | 0.97 (0–2.8) particles/individual 0.15 (0–1.8) particles g−1 |
0.1–0.2 mm | PE, PP, PS, PES, PEVA, PET, PUR | [122] |
| Deep-sea fish |
South China sea (CN) | Stomach: 1.96 particles/individual and 1.56 particles g−1; Intestine: 1.77 particles/individual and 4.89 particles g−1 |
<1 mm | CPH, PA, PET, | [138] |
| Indian white shrimps | Kochi, Southwest India (IN) | 0.39 particles/individual 0.04 particles g−1 |
0.157–2.785 mm | PA, PES, PE, PP | [125] |
| Salt | |||||
| Sea salt, lake salt, rock/well salt | China (CN) | 550–681 particles kg−1 (sea salt) 43–364 particles kg−1 (lake salt) 7–204 particles kg−1 (rock/well salt) |
0.1–1 mm | PET, PE, PB, PP, PES, CPH | [170] |
| Ocean salt, sea salt, rock salt | United States (USA) | 47–806 particles kg−1 | 0.1–5 mm | [166] | |
| Sea salt | Italy (IT) | 1600–8200 particles kg−1 | 0.004–2.1 mm | [168] | |
| Sea salt | Croatia | 13,500–19,800 particles kg−1 | 0.015–4.6 mm | PP | [168] |
| Sea and lake salt | Australia (AU), France (FR), Iran (IR), Japan (JP), Malaysia (MY), New Zealand (NZ), Portugal (PL), South Africa (ZA) | 1000–10,000 particles kg−1 | 0.2–1 mm | PE, PET (AU) PP, PET (FR) PP (IR) PE, PET (JP) PP (MY) PE (NZ) PET, PP (PL) PET (ZA) |
[164] |
| Sea salt | Indonesia (ID) | 100 particles kg−1 | 0.1–2 mm | PE, PET, PP | [165] |
| Drinking water, soft drinks, and milk | |||||
| Drinking water | Oldenburg-East-Frisian water board, Germany (DE) | 0–7000 particles L−1 | 0.05–0.150 mm | PES, PVC, PE, PA, EP | [181] |
| Drinking water | Germany (DE) | 11 ± 8 particles L−1
(beverage cartons) 118 ± 88 particles L−1 (returnable plastic bottles) |
0.005–0.1 mm | PET, PE, PA, PP | [184] |
| Drinking water | Bavaria, Germany (DE) | 4889 ± 5432 particles L−1 (reusable PET bottles) 2649 ±2857 particles L−1 (single-use PET bottles) 3074 ±2531 particles L−1 (glass bottles) |
0.001–0.01 mm | Styrene-butadiene copolymer, PP, PE, PET | [182] |
| Drinking water | Czech Republic (CZ) | 338 ± 76 to 628 ± 28 particles L−1 (treated water) 1473 ± 34 to 3605 ± 497 particles L−1 |
0.001–0.1 mm | PBA, PE, PET, PMMA, PP, PS, PTT, PVC (raw water) PAAm, PE, PET, PP, PVC (treated water) |
[183] |
| Cold tea, soft drinks, energy drinks, beers | Mexico City, Mexico (MX) | 11 ± 5.26 particles (cold tea) 40 ± 24.53 particles (soft drinks) 14 ± 5.79 particles (energy drinks) 152 ± 50.97 particles (0–28 ± 5.29 particles L−1) (beers) |
0.1–3 mm | PA, PET, PEA, ABS | [189] |
| Beer | Germany (DE) | 2–79 particles L−1 (fibers) 12–109 particles L−1 (fragments) 2–66 particles L−1 (granules) |
[192] | ||
| Beer | Germany (DE) | 16 ± 15 particles L−1 (fibers) 21 ± 16 particles L−1 (fragments) 27 ± 10 particles L−1 (granules) |
[191] | ||
| Beer | USA | 0–14.3 particles L−1 | 0.1–5 mm | [166] | |
| Milk | Mexico City, Mexico (MX) | 6500 particles m−3 | 0.1–5 mm | Polysulfone | [195] |
| Honey, sugar, and fruit | |||||
| Honey | Germany (DE), France (FR), Italy (IT), Spain (ES) | 166 ± 147 particles kg−1 (fibers) 9 ± 9 particles kg−1 (fragments) |
0.01–9 mm | [197] | |
| Honey | Germany (DE) | 10–336 particles kg−1
(fibers) 2–82 particles kg−1 (fragments) |
0.01–several mm | [209] | |
| Honey | Switzerland (CH) | 32–108 particles kg−1
(fibers) 8–28 particles kg−1 (other) |
PET | [198] | |
| Honey | Ecuador (EC) | 54 particles L−1 (industrial honey) 67 particles L−1 (craft honey) |
0.013–0.25 mm | PP, PE, PAAm | [199] |
| Sugar | Germany (DE), France (FR), Italy (IT), Spain (ES) | 217 ± 123 particles kg−1 (fibres) 32 ± 7 particles kg−1 (fragments) |
[197] | ||
| Fruit and vegetables | Catania, Italy (IT) | 52,600–307,750 particles g−1 (apples) 98,325–302,250 particles g−1 (pears) 65,025–201,750 particles g−1 (cabbages) 26,375–75,425 particles g−1 (lettuce) 72,175–130,500 particles g−1 (carrots) |
0.00156–0.00319 mm (apples) 0.00187–0.00259 mm (pears) 0.00186–0.00295 mm (cabbages) 0.00218–0.00278 mm (lettuce) 0.00136–0.002 mm (carrots) |
[200] | |
| Chicken, cows, and pigs | |||||
| Chicken feces | Campeche, SE Mexico (MX) | 129.8 ± 82.3 particles g−1 | 0.1–5 mm | [201] | |
| Chicken gizzards | Campeche, SE Mexico (MX) | 10.2 ± 13.8 particles g−1 | 0.1–5 mm | [201] | |
| Poultry, pigs, cows | South China (CN) | 902 ± 1290 particles kg−1 (pig manure) 667 ± 990 particles kg−1 (poultry manure) 74 ± 129 particles kg−1 (cow manure) 139 ± 115 particles kg−1 (pig feeds) 96 ± 109 particles kg−1 (poultry feeds) 36 ± 63 particles kg−1 (cow feeds) |
<5 mm | PP, PE, PET | [204] |
Abbreviations. MO: microscope; FTIR: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy; RMS: Raman spectroscopy; SEM: scanning electron microscope; FTIR-ATR: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy–attenuated total reflectance; SEM-EDX: scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis; PE: polyethylene; PP: polypropylene; PS: polystyrene; PVA: polyvinyl alcohol; PVC: polyvinyl chloride; PES: polyester; PET: polyethylene terephthalate; PUR: polyurethane; PA: polyamide; NY: nylon; CPH: cellophane; RY: rayon; EP: epoxy resin; ALK: alkyd resin; PAN: polyacrylonitrile; PMMA: poly(methyl methacrylate); ABS: acrylonitrile butadiene styrene; PEVA: polyethylene-vinyl acetate; PAAm: polyacrylamide; PB: poly(1-butene); PBA: polybutylacrylate; PTT: polytrimethylene terephthalate; PEA: poly(ester-amide).