Microplastics in food grains, fruits, and vegetables: Comparative Assessment of Awareness among the Indian Housewives from Cities and Villages

Abstract

In the fast-changing today’s world the environment is getting polluted at a fast pace. So the prime concern of recent years is the encroachment of microplastics in our food chain. This article is focused on comparing the awareness level of Indian housewives living in cities and villages. This study aims to analyze to what extent housewives are aware of the level of exposure to microplastics, their presence in food grains, fruits, and vegetables, the biomagnification level in the human body, the health hazards, and their role in solving the problem. The two test groups comprising 250 women each, were able to characterize that microplastics are harmful. The women living in the cities know about the uptake of microplastics in edible food grains, but the village women were unaware of it. They were aware of plastics but not of microplastics. They did not agree that food items have microplastics in them. The city women agreed upon the health hazards but they mostly opined about stomach problems. All of them agreed to keep their kitchen garden clean and reduce the use of plastic. As measures to stop plastic pollution, all advocated more on including environmental subjects in the school curriculum, rather than only framing laws. All the women suggested using liquid inoculants made of microorganisms that can degrade plastic. Thus the awareness and knowledge among the women population can mitigate and curb the problem of health hazards due to microplastic pollution to some extent.