Sunday, November 17, 2013

Underestimated Danger: Nanoparticles contaminate food - Spiegel Online

Hamburg – honey and water are to search the NDR consumer magazine “Markt” partially contaminated by microscopically small plastic spheres. It is suspected that the beads may come from care products such as shower gels, exfoliating creams and toothpaste, the TV magazine reported on Sunday in advance. The so-called micro-plastic gelange via wastewater into the environment and spread there. Experiments on mussels have shown that the particles become embedded in the tissue. There then formed according to the report inflammation.

micro plastic particles mostly made of polyethylene to help the products to a mechanical cleaning effect according to NDR. Among other things, the micro-plastic particles were used in polishes with peeling effect and special toothpastes. For some products, the proportion of plastic spheres to global content amounts to up to ten percent.

plastic waste for the environment has become a real problem. Oceans and lakes are from the heavily weathered material. The microplastic was paid previously been inasmuch as particularly dangerous because it is invisible to the naked eye.

“We can assume that the micro plastic is everywhere in the atmosphere,” the magazine quoted the TV researcher Gerd Liebezeit the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Carl-von-Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. Is suspected according to the report that the plastic over the air also enters food. Love time was therefore investigated in 19 honeys fibers and plastic fragments in four samples there were also plastic beads. Plastic in rainwater was discovered how it is used in cosmetics.

“The use of plastic particles in cosmetics and cleaning products should be banned,” called love time. The Federal Environment Office said on request of the magazine that research contracts had already been awarded to investigate the effects of micro-plastics on the environment. But we suspect that was needed a timely voluntary phase-out of micro plastic. The manufacturer of care products granted according to “market” an action a. They announced their intention to abandon in the near future, the use of plastic in their products.

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