Cutting Boards: An Overlooked Source of Microplastics in Human Food?

Westudied plastic cutting boards as a microplastic sourceto human food to understand the factors that control the release ofmicroplastics, the possible cumulative exposure over time, and anypossible toxicity. Plastic cutting boards are a potentially significantsource ofmicroplastics in human food. Thus, we investigated the impact of choppingstyles and board materials on microplastics released during chopping.As chopping progressed, the effects of chopping styles on microplasticrelease became evident. The mass and number of microplastics releasedfrom polypropylene chopping boards were greater than polyethyleneby 5-60% and 14-71%, respectively. Chopping on polyethyleneboards was associated with a greater release of microplastics witha vegetable (i.e., carrots) than chopping without carrots. Microplasticsshowed a broad, bottom-skewed normal distribution, dominated by <100 mu m spherical-shaped microplastics. Based on our assumptions,we estimated a per-person annual exposure of 7.4-50.7 g ofmicroplastics from a polyethylene chopping board and 49.5 g of microplasticsfrom a polypropylene chopping board. We further estimated that a personcould be exposed to 14.5 to 71.9 million polyethylene microplasticsannually, compared to 79.4 million polypropylene microplastics fromchopping boards. The preliminary toxicity study of the polyethylenemicroplastics did not show adverse effects on the viability of mousefibroblast cells for 72 h. This study identifies plastic choppingboards as a substantial source of microplastics in human food, whichrequires careful attention.

Automated summary

This study investigated the contribution of plastic cutting boards to the presence of microplastics in human food. The chopping style and board material were found to influence the release of microplastics. Polypropylene cutting boards released more microplastics than polyethylene boards, and chopping with vegetables resulted in higher microplastic release. The study estimated the annual exposure of microplastics from chopping boards and found that they could be a substantial source in human food. Preliminary toxicity tests showed no adverse effects of polyethylene microplastics on cell viability.