Characterization of microplastics in skim-milk powders

The list of standard abbreviations for JDS is available at adsa.org/jds-abbreviations-24. Nonstandard abbreviations are available in the Notes. The diffusion of microplastics in the food supply chain is prompting public concern as their impact on human health is still largely unknown. The aim of thi...

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Published inJournal of dairy science Vol. 107; no. 8; pp. 5393 - 5401
Main Authors Visentin, E., Manuelian, C.L., Niero, G., Benetti, F., Perini, A., Zanella, M., Pozza, M., De Marchi, M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Elsevier Inc 01.08.2024
Subjects
analysis
Animals
dairy
Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy
Humans
microplastics
Microplastics - analysis
Milk - chemistry
Powders
Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
microplastics
analysis
dairy
Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy
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Summary:The list of standard abbreviations for JDS is available at adsa.org/jds-abbreviations-24. Nonstandard abbreviations are available in the Notes. The diffusion of microplastics in the food supply chain is prompting public concern as their impact on human health is still largely unknown. The aim of this study was to qualitatively and quantitatively characterize microplastics in skim-milk powder samples (n = 16) from different European countries (n = 8) through Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance mode analysis. The present study highlights that the use of hot alkaline digestion has enabled the efficacious identification of microplastics in skim-milk powders used for cheesemaking across European countries. The adopted protocol allowed detection of 29 different types of polymeric matrices for a total of 536 plastic particles. The most abundant microplastics were polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate. Microplastics were found in skim-milk powders in 3 different shapes (fiber, sphere, and irregular fragments) and 6 different colors (black, blue, brown, fuchsia, green, and gray). Results demonstrate the presence of microplastics in all skim-milk powder samples, suggesting a general contamination. Results of the present study will help to evaluate the impact of microplastics intake on human health.
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ISSN:0022-0302
1525-3198
1525-3198
DOI:10.3168/jds.2023-24373