<aside> <img src="/icons/apple_blue.svg" alt="/icons/apple_blue.svg" width="40px" /> Describe your product
Plastic pollution in the marine environment has emerged as a major global issue in the 21st century (Rakib et al., 2021). Annually, around 4.8–12.7 million metric tons of plastic reach the marine ecosystem (Daniel, Ashraf, & Thomas, 2020). The presence of microplastics (MPs), which have sizes of less than 5 mm, is causing a threat to the environment and life on Earth. MP contamination in the food chain is a big global debate, as it could absorb and spread harmful chemical particles into unprocessed food resources. While the long-term effects on human health are still being studied, evidence suggests potential risks, including the transfer of toxic additives and inflammatory response caused by marine MPs. Particularly, they could spread into the human body through the consumption of seafood or drinking water. Besides, consumption of contaminated sea salt is also a major concern. Since the production of sea salt relies on the crystallization of seawater by natural wind and sunlight in salt paddy without pre-treatment, the MP particles could still be in salt crystals (Yang et al., 2015). Worldwide, the intake of MPs from salt is on average between 37 to 1000 particles per year per capita (Rist et al., 2018). Hence, the circulation of this pollutant via edible salt should be reduced and eliminated (Kumar et al., 2022). In Cambodia, small to medium-sized sea salt farms can be found in most coastal areas located in Kampot and Kep provinces for local consumption and export. However, the data about the level of MP particles in the Cambodian marine environment was not recorded. Most of the farms directly produce salt from untreated seawater. Therefore, this research aims to invent and install a Prototype of Eco-Friendly MPs removal filter (EMRF) for sea salt farms. The specific outputs are (i) a Feasibility study of the MPs pollution in seawater and sea salt in the target study area (Kampot province) and (ii) a Prototype of an Eco-Friendly MPs removal filter (EMRF) for sea salt farms.
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<aside> <img src="/icons/bullseye_green.svg" alt="/icons/bullseye_green.svg" width="40px" /> What you want to achieve by March 2025
<aside> <img src="/icons/bell-notification_pink.svg" alt="/icons/bell-notification_pink.svg" width="40px" /> Describe the kinds of help you need the most (funding, expertise, technology, access, etc).
<aside> <img src="/icons/brain_blue.svg" alt="/icons/brain_blue.svg" width="40px" /> Describe your target customers
<aside> <img src="/icons/emoji-disappointed_pink.svg" alt="/icons/emoji-disappointed_pink.svg" width="40px" /> What pain points are you trying to solve?
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