Sea Salt (Microplastics)

Salt evaporated from seawater.

59Moderate burden · out of 100

Cleaner swapMined rock salt, which does not pass through seawater

How this score is built

100Start
90.8Chemical hazard 2 × 4.6−9.2
77.2Everyday exposure 4 × 3.4−13.6
59Persistence 7 × 2.6−18.2
ModerateThe band59 sits in 40–59.

What each input rests on

The three ratings behind the score, and the studies each rests on
Input	Rating	Evidence
Chemical hazard	2/10	unsourced input
Everyday exposure	4/10	Across 39 salt brands, sea salts held 0-1,674 microplastic particles per kg (one outlier at 13,629), against 0-148 in rock salt; levels in unrefined sea salt tracked microplastic pollution in the surrounding seawater. Global Pattern of Microplastics (MPs) in Commercial Food-Grade Salts: Sea Salt as an Indicator of Seawater MP Pollution · Environ Sci Technol 2018 DOI 10.1021/acs.est.8b04180 · PMID 30285421 · Abstract · read 2026-10-09
Persistence	7/10	unsourced input

Ratings are editorial. A study listed here supports the rating; it did not compute it. How the index is built

What this means for you

Multiple international surveys have detected microplastic particles in the large majority of sea salt brands tested, tracking the plastic load of the source water. Rock salt comes from ancient deposits and consistently tests lower.

Evidence strength: moderate

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