Washing clothes releases 700k plastic fibres

MORE than 700,000 tiny plastic fibres are released into the environment every time we wash clothes made from artificial fabrics, a study has found.

The microscopic fibres are released into waste water during washing machine cycles which are filled with synthetic materials such as polyester or acrylic.

The fibres are so small they can pass through water treatment filters and on into rivers, lakes and seas.

Many are eaten by fish and other marine creatures, and can harm their health.

While microbeads – found in cosmetics – have attracted more attention, microfibres are just as polluting.

Microbeads are to be banned in the UK by 2017, following a recent campaign by the Daily Mail. Experts say a similar ban for microfibres is not practical – given their widespread use in so many textiles – and measures to help reduce their negative impact needed to be found.

The study by Plymouth University measured the potential harm caused by microfibres in synthetic clothing materials. The series of polyester, acrylic and polyester-cotton items were washed using various combinations of detergent and fabric conditioner at temperatures of 30C and 40C.

Fibres were then extracted from the effluent and examined using an electron microscope to determine their typical features. Researchers studied the abundance, mass and size of the fibres present in the discharged water after washes.

The analysis found laundering an average washing load of 13lb (6kg) could release an estimated 137,951 fibres from polyester-cotton blend fabrics, 496,030 fibres from polyesters and 728,789 from acrylics. The addition of bio-detergents or conditioners tended to release more fibres.

In the study, published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, the authors said: ‘The quantity of microplastic in the environment is expected to increase over the next few decades, and there are concerns about the potential for it to have harmful effects if ingested.

‘But while the release of tiny fibres as a result of washing textiles has been widely suggested as a potential source, there has been little quantitative research on its relevant importance, or on the factors that might influence such discharges.’