Abstract Food trays are often made from extruded polystyrene (XPS), and quantities of millimetre-sized particles of this material are trapped between the meat they contain and the sealing film. The purpose of this study is to identify the chemical nature of these particles and quantify them. Furthermore, the quantification of synthetic or organic fibres was also carried out. The results show that XPS microplastics (MP-XPS) contaminate food products at a level ranging from 4.0 to 18.7 MP-XPS/kg of packaged meat. Analysis shows that these microplastics are likely to come from the XPS trays. These particles are difficult to remove by mere rinsing and are probably cooked before being consumed. However, at this stage, it is not clear from the scientific literature whether there is a potential risk to humans associated with the ingestion of MP-XPS. In addition to these MP-XPS, it should also be pointed out that fibres can also contaminate meat.

中文翻译：

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包装肉类的微塑料污染：发生和相关风险

摘要 食品托盘通常由挤塑聚苯乙烯 (XPS) 制成，大量毫米大小的这种材料颗粒被困在它们所装的肉和密封膜之间。本研究的目的是确定这些颗粒的化学性质并对其进行量化。此外，还进行了合成或有机纤维的量化。结果表明，XPS 微塑料 (MP-XPS) 对食品的污染水平为 4.0 至 18.7 MP-XPS/kg 包装肉。分析表明，这些微塑料很可能来自 XPS 托盘。这些颗粒很难通过简单的冲洗去除，并且可能在食用前煮熟。然而，在现阶段，科学文献中尚不清楚摄入 MP-XPS 是否会对人类造成潜在风险。