microplastics from plastic pepper grinders?
I have a regular (steel) pepper grinder but I have defaulted to buying and using the 'all-in-one" bottles of peppercorn with the grinder top' from Trader Joe's.
I am hearing more and more about exposure to 'microplastics' from all sorts of sources. Last night while I was cooking and grinding some pepper into a roue for a cauliflower-cheddar casserole (it was delicious!), it occurred to me: am I adding microplastics along with the pepper?
I'm no engineer or physicist, but it seems likely that a plastic grinder working against hard peppercorns is going to cause wear on the grinder surface with the result getting added to food.
Is this a known "thing" (e.g. concern, myth, stoner speculation )? I've googled around but couldn't find anything.
Best Answer
If you go small enough, you're always inhaling/ingesting something foreign.
Your concern, although logically valid, is nearly impossible to regulate or even measure. We're talking about amount that is, literally, microscopic.
You're definitely eating it, but discussion of the consequences (if any) is off topic on the site.
The environmental concerns are valid, because even though they're small, they do not decompose and collects.
Pictures about "microplastics from plastic pepper grinders?"
Can you reuse disposable pepper grinder?
If you feel better wiping off a package of peppercorns when you get it home, by all means, do it. Even if you're not concerned about the virus contaminating items in your home, it's important that all your essential kitchen tools, including your salt and pepper grinders, are clean and germ-free when you use them.How to avoid microplastics in your food / UNSEEN (2/5) | DW Documentary
More answers regarding microplastics from plastic pepper grinders?
Answer 2
When you grind any material you are intentionally rubbing one surface against another, causing the grinding surfaces to wear. So yes, when you grind pepper (or coffee, spices, etc) very small parts of the grinder material will come off as you do it, and that's true whether the material is plastic or metal.
The difference in how much of the grinder ends up on your food depends on the material that the grinder elements are made of, those are the pieces that grind the food not the rest of the grinder's make-up. Plastic is softer than metal, so if you are using a plastic grinder you are likely eating much more microscopic plastic particles than you would metal particles from a metal grinder.
Should you care? Health concerns are off-topic here, and in any case there's no good data on micro-plastics and health so I will not touch on that. From an environmental impact perspective micro-plastics are being found in the environment and in animals, which many scientists think is a bad thing. The amount of micro-plastics is pretty small compared to other sources, however given that you have a reusable alternative sitting in your home (i.e. your metal grinder) it would be easy to eliminate that source, and it would reduce the amount of single-use plastics as well. It's also much cheaper to buy peppercorns to refill your metal grinder than to buy pepper grinders every time.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Karolina Grabowska, Julia Volk, Đặng Thanh Tú, Dayvison de Oliveira Silva