Tyres and laundry pose a major environmental threat to oceans
BRITAIN: Clothes washing and driving are a much bigger problem in polluting the world’s oceans than microbeads, a study has found.
A million tonnes of microplastics a year end up in the ocean after being shed by synthetic textiles during washing or by synthetic rubber tyres during driving, the research reveals.
Microplastics are too small to be filtered out by sewage plants, and make their way into watercourses that empty into the sea, where they are ingested by shellfish and plankton and can end up being eaten by humans.
The study by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which advises governments on environmental issues, found that two-thirds of the microplastics washed into oceans come from textiles or tyres, compared with 2 per cent from microbeads in personal care products.
Other sources of microplastic pollution include the abrasion of plastic footwear and the plasticbased paints used on ships’ hulls and for road markings.
The British government will ban shower gels, face scrubs and toothpaste containing microbeads from June 30 next year.
The IUCN study concludes: ‘‘The banning of microbeads from cosmetics ... will not solve the wider problem. Attention must be paid ... to other sources, such as textiles and tyres.’’
The study also says that for countries with efficient plastic waste collection systems, textiles and tyres could be a greater source of microplastic pollution of the oceans than plastic packaging.
The study calls for research that would help to reduce pollution by producing materials that shed fewer fibres. The IUCN said tyres could be strengthened to reduce shedding, and water collected from roads could be filtered to remove particles.
It also suggests that washing machines could have better filters. A previous study found that more than 700,000 microscopic plastic fibres can be flushed into drains from a single load of synthetic fabrics. - The Times