Researchers from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam have found microplastics in 80% of samples taken from the meat, blood, and milk of Dutch farm animals.
Depending on your dietary preferences, you might be thinking:
A: ‘WHOOP, I’m vegetarian anyway so who cares.’ 🥳
OR
B: ‘Oh no, I eat animal products all the time, so what does that mean?’ 😬
Maria Westerbos, director of the environmental organisation Plastic Soup Foundation, tells the NOS: “This is not only damaging to the wellbeing of animals, but also for us. It’s likely that each piece of beef and each hamburger contains a small piece of plastic.”
More research needs to be done
This study by the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam is relatively small. In total, eight samples of beef meat, 25 samples of cow’s milk, and the blood of 12 pigs and 12 cows were tested for microplastics.
Here are the results:
- Seven out of eight beef meat samples contained traces of microplastics.
- So did 18 out of the 25 cow’s milk samples.
- The blood of all 12 pigs and 12 cows contained microplastics.
Not the farmers’ fault
The researchers think that it’s probably the feed of the animals that contains the microplastics and consequently ends up in the blood and tissue of Dutch farm animals.
In fact, the researchers took 12 samples of feed pellets and found microplastics in every single one. Shocking! In fresh feed on the other hand, like hay or vegetables, no traces of plastic could be found.
Westerbos stresses that it’s not the farmers that are to blame, but the animal feed industry that carelessly works plastic waste into their products.
What do you think of the results of this study on microplastics in Dutch animal products? Tell us in the comments below!
Wist u tot vandaag of gisteren niets van dit microplastic? Hoe aardig van ze willen deze mensen echt het beste voor ons of willen ze de kevers opeten die een paar jaar geleden zijn bereid ???