Microfibers from the washing of synthetic clothing are part of the larger problem of microplastic pollution in natural waterways. Much thinner than a strand of hair, these tiny pieces of plastic are shed by every garment made with synthetic materials when they are washed in a washing machine.
“I surveyed thousands and thousands of kilometers of ocean. We found microfibers in nearly 90 percent of the samples, and in every sample we found fibers, they were the majority of particles we identified,” said Amy Lusher, a British-based microplastics researcher and a co-author of a 2014 study of microplastic pollution in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean.
Does this affect the environment or our own personal health? Researchers are still trying to determine what effects might climb up the food chain and affect humans eating seafood and our drinking water.
Studies have found that a single synthetic garment can release from up to 700,00 microfibers each.
The solution? Researchers are working to develop a “microfiber catcher” that consumers will be able to throw into their washing machines, trapping the fibers inside the appliance rather than sending them out to sea in wastewater.
I suggest we all wear biodegradable natural fibers instead.
THE WASHINGTON POST: Are Synthetic Fleece and Other Types of Clothing Harming Our Water?
How about microfiber cleaning cloths, and microfiber mopping pads? Do they cause the same problem?
I would say YES. Anything made of fabric. It’s the fabric that’s the problem. Any synthetic fabric.