Article
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Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Determination of Microplastics in Omega-3 Oil Supplements
Version 1
: Received: 2 April 2024 / Approved: 2 April 2024 / Online: 2 April 2024 (10:39:10 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Kim, M.; Kim, J.; Park, S.; Kim, D.; Jung, J.; Cho, D. Determination of Microplastics in Omega-3 Oil Supplements. Foods 2024, 13, 1434. Kim, M.; Kim, J.; Park, S.; Kim, D.; Jung, J.; Cho, D. Determination of Microplastics in Omega-3 Oil Supplements. Foods 2024, 13, 1434.
Abstract
The ubiquitous presence of microplastics (MPs) in the environment poses a threat to ecosystems and increases concerns about their exposure to the human body. However, despite being consumed for health improvement, limited research has been conducted on MPs in functional foods. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of MPs and the relation of the source of raw material or the manufacture in various omega-3 oil in the Korean market. MPs in omega-3 capsule and raw oil, sourced from both plant-based (PB) and animal-based (AB) sources, were investigated. We developed the method by direct filtration with acetone washing and analyzed MPs greater than 5 μm using microscope-Raman spectroscopy. The average number of MPs was found to be 1.2 ± 1.7 MPs/g for PB raw oil, 2.2 ± 1.7 MPs/g for AB raw oil, 3.5 ± 3.9 MPs/g for PB capsule oil, and 10.6 ± 8.9 MPs/g for AB capsule oil. Polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate were major specious (83-95 %) found in omega-3 oil. The ratio of size range remained consistent across all groups, with a trend of higher detection rates as the size diminished. The results reveal that the main reason of MPs contamination is not the source of raw material but the manufacturing and packaging process for omega-3 oil.
Keywords
microplastics; omega-3 supplements; health functional foods; μRaman
Subject
Chemistry and Materials Science, Food Chemistry
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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