Plastic cutting boards as a source of microplastics in meat

ABSTRACT

Plastic cutting boards were found to be the source of polythene microplastic contamination in cut meat commercially available at butchers and a supermarket chain in the Middle East, making them also a direct source of microplastic in wastewater. The mean size of the microplastic in the raw meat was 1279.2 ± 835.0 µm, but decreased when the meat was cooked or fried. The microplastic melted during both cooking and frying processes and recrystallised partially upon cooling. Washing the meat for a short time (10 seconds) before preparing it reduced the microplastic contamination insignificantly, and only extensive washing of the meat over longer periods of time (3 min) helped decrease the microplastic count to 0.07 MP/g meat. The composition of the cutting boards was analysed by FT-IR spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and subjected to wear, tensile and hardness tests. From a 3D photo of a spent cutting board, it was calculatedthat 875 g polythene was lost from the cutting board at the end of its lifetime.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Plastic cutting board
• meat
• polythene
• microplastics
• food contamination

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mr. Luqman Ali (College of Information Technology, UAEU) and Mr. Mubashir Noman (College of Engineering, UAEU) for the 3D-photo of the used cutting board (type CB-1, white) and the calculation of the used sheet volume. Ms. Suba Chandran is acknowledged for making the authors aware of the microplastic contamination on fish bought in supermarkets and providing us with a sample of Caranx ignobilis.

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Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.