Commentary: Kimchi can’t save us from microplastics
A study has found that eating kimchi may help to remove nanoplastics from one’s body. But that is not the solution to the world’s microplastics problem, says this Bloomberg Opinion writer.
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LONDON: Next time you host a summer barbecue, may I suggest that, in addition to mustard and pickles, you add kimchi to the spread?
Not only is this Korean specialty delicious with burgers (including the plant-based ones I opt for) and good for the gut, but it may also help rid your body of nanoplastics, the ultra tiny particles made by the breakdown of larger flakes, fibers and films.
Awareness of these bitty shreds has risen in recent years, thanks in part to a few high-profile studies, some of which – including the one that claimed we have an entire spoon’s-worth of plastic in our brains – have been debunked or broadly criticised. In one case, researchers may have been overestimating the amount of plastic in the environment because they accidentally contaminated samples with plastic lab gloves, a fact I don’t find reassuring.
Despite the developing nature of the science, there’s little doubt that we’re constantly inhaling and ingesting microplastics: All those particles have to go somewhere.
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The kimchi study, conducted by scientists from the intriguing World Institute of Kimchi, part of the government-funded Korea Food Research Institute and founded with the goal of promoting the tasty cabbage, found that a bacterium strain derived from kimchi absorbed nanoplastic particles much more readily than a control strain under lab conditions made to resemble the human intestine.
They also conducted an experiment with mice, finding that the rodents that received the bacterium strain had more than double the amount of nanoplastics in their feces than those that didn’t, suggesting that the probiotic may help remove pollutants from the body.
The research, published in a peer-reviewed journal, is by no means conclusive. (I’d love to see the findings replicated by an independent research body.) But even if kimchi were able to expel every last scrap of plastic squirreled away in our bodies, we’d still be dealing with it throughout our environment.
THE MICROPLASTIC PROBLEM
Consider another recent study, which concluded that the minuscule particles in the air are contributing, if only slightly, to global heating. Because most micro- and nanoplastics are dark or become dark in color, they absorb heat from the sun.
This is worrying for a couple of reasons. The first is that climate models aren’t currently accounting for plastic in their projections. The second is that it means our air is full of trash.
Plastic is typically thought of as an ocean-based problem. That’s partially because the beach is where the research began. Richard Thompson, professor of marine biology at the University of Plymouth and coiner of the term “microplastic”, kept stumbling across plastic waste along the coastline, and subsequently found smaller, microscopic pieces in the sand and seabed. Since then, we’ve learned all about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (located somewhere between California and Hawaii) and the fact that microplastics linger in seafood.
Then there’s the soil. In fact, the earth beneath our feet may contain more microplastic than the ocean, with agricultural land particularly plasticky. Researchers estimate that between 31,000 and 42,000 metric tonnes of microplastics are applied to European soils annually via the recycling of sewage sludge.
It gets there via our wastewater, which is full of tiny plastic particles. Tires are a big part of this problem: They wear away as we drive around, then the shreds get washed into the sewage system when it rains. Clothing is another major contributor, with 70 per cent of all apparel made from synthetics such as polyester and elastane, which shed tiny fibers when they’re being made, worn and washed. Human waste is also a microplastic source, aided by kimchi if the Korean study is correct.
We’re very good at removing microplastics from wastewater. What’s left is a nutritious mulch of biowaste and plastic, 80 per cent of which ends up on agricultural land in the UK.
A study from the James Hutton Institute looked at archived soil samples from a sewage sludge experiment that ran between 1994 and 2019. It found that after just four years of sewage sludge application, microplastic levels in soil rose by up to 1,450 per cent. The researchers also found that even after the plots of land were no longer fertilised with sewage waste, levels of microplastics remained the same for more than two decades and counting.
RESEARCH LIMITS
Microplastic research is a youthful 22 years old, and so we’re still learning just what this means for our soil and crops. What we do know is concerning. Plastics may damage the soil structure, reduce the availability of nutrients, affect crop development and reduce seed germination.
As with other microplastic exposures, one of the main concerns is the wide variety of toxic chemicals they can leach into our bodies, food and soil. Particles have also been found in fruit and vegetables, suggesting the emergence of an endless plastic cycle.
What can be done? More research is needed to help us understand the health and environmental impacts. We need to divert some microplastics to safer storage areas. France, for example, introduced a law that requires washing machines to be fitted with microfiber filters. Similar legislation is currently being developed in the UK. These filters would help reduce how many microfibers ended up in our wastewater and therefore on our cropland.
It would also be better if plastic items didn’t shed so much. In March, the UN Economic Commission for Europe adopted new abrasion limits for car tires, which will come into effect from 2028. Though the auto industry was initially hesitant, it ended up working closely with government and independent experts to develop testing standards. Sarah Baulch, from the Pew Charitable Trusts, told me that it’s a model which could be replicated across multiple industries, including textiles.
But the issue really comes down to a plastics problem: By far the best way to tackle microplastics is simply to use less of the stuff. That’s something no amount of kimchi can help us with.
Source: Bloomberg/zw(sk)
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