
MicroClear Salt Purification Research
Did you know that people consume around a credit card of microplastics?
Did you know that humans on average consume approximately 4000 microplastic particles annually?
Did you know that even the Himalayan Salt comprises microplastics?
Currently, there are no existing solutions to this issue, and we are relentlessly consuming microplastics on a daily basis.
However, the MicroClear Salt Purification System by Jinwook Chang solves this problem!


Jinwook Chang investigates electrochemical separation techniques, optimizing electrocoagulation—a separation technique used in large-scale water purification systems—to produce microplastic-free salts.
Currently, the research paper is under review to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, but feel free to read the abstract below!
Jinwook Chang - Selective Removal of Microplastics from Saline Solutions via Aluminum-Based Electrocoagulation
Abstract:
Microplastics already disrupt ecosystems and harm wildlife, and they are soon expected to have detrimental impacts on humans as a result of the interconnected food chain. Despite ongoing research, microplastics already raise concerns including exposure to harmful artificial chemicals, inflammation, and long-term health effects on humans. Although the public may believe that avoiding sea-food consumption will prevent them from these health defects, humans consume great amounts of microplastics through salt, which contains electrolytes essential for human survival. In this case, the small microplastic particles are trapped inside the salt crystals during the evaporation process, leading to presence of microplastics in our daily meal. In fact, according to a journal published in Nature, even mountain salts contain due to the pervasive nature of plastic pollution. Nevertheless, through special chemical treatment and chemical separation techniques, such as electrolysis, electrostatic separation, and other minor techniques, miniscule plastic particles may be separated from the salt and water mixture, allowing humans to consume plastic-free salt. Currently, Jinwook Chang constructs a factory-scale model to be implemented in large sea salt plantations, and he plans to expand this model to create a small household prototype for microplastics-salt separation in the future.













Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Mr. Gregory Rose from Shanghai American School for his advice throughout the research and experimental process. His suggestion during the initial detection stage to use a spectrophotometer greatly helped me determine the selection method.