Micro and Nano Plastics: A Consumer Perception Study on the Environment, Food Safety Threat and Control Systems

Abstract

The ubiquitous nature and regular occurrence of microplastics and nanoplastics in the food chain and environment have made them topical subject for investigations. The subject is widely researched but a small group study focusing on ethnic black British is sparse. Thus, the paper aimed to assess the consumers' perception of the control system, environmental and food safety threats of micro-nanoplastics through a critical review and an online survey restricted to the mentioned demography. The review and focus group survey with 72 respondents, demonstrated a general awareness of the environmental detriments of plastics, microplastics and nanoplastics but not the food safety threat. Reduction of the use of plastics, especially single use plastics was overwhelmingly supported, with over 80% being in favour, In all cases, the standard deviation was low and the coefficient of variation is less than one (CV>=1). Awareness studies remain key driver to consumer's perception.

Evaluation of Consumers' Awareness of the Impact of UV Filters on Marine Ecosystems

“…This confirms our earlier observations that for this group the most important problem of marine environment pollution is the increasing contamination with plastics. This is because recently the harmful impact of microplastics and nano plastics on marine environment have been widely researched and discussed [6,10,20]. In order to counteract this phenomenon, the commonly recommended actions are to reduce the consumption of plastics, especially single-use plastics, and to recycle plastics.…”

Greater willingness to reduce microplastics consumption in Mexico than in Spain supports the importance of legislation on the use of plastics

“…For this study we chose only university students due to the significant effect of education level as a predictor of pro-environmental behavior intention regarding MP, as found in previous studies (Ojinnaka and Aw, 2020 ). University students were also chosen due to the influence of age (Herweyers et al, 2020 ; Soares et al, 2021 ).…”

“…These countries have different social norms and cultures. As suggested by Garcia-Vazquez and Garcia-Ael ( 2021 ), as well as other authors Ojinnaka and Aw ( 2020 ), intercultural aspects of the psychosocial issues surrounding MP mitigation should be further explored to better determine the scale of intervention designs.…”

“…Knowledge of MP is the first step required for people to become aware of MP impact and—perhaps—change their behavior. The majority of consumers are not conscious of acquiring products containing MP (Henderson and Green, 2020 ; Ojinnaka and Aw, 2020 ). Yan et al ( 2020 ) found that people are unaware of MP due to their invisibility.…”

“…Finally, socio-demographic factors such as age, gender, and education have been shown to influence attitudes and behaviors toward MP, although the different directions are not always clear. Educated people are more aware of MP (Ojinnaka and Aw, 2020 ). Gender and age show contradictory effects depending on the study.…”