Engineering the Yarn: How Fabric Structure Controls Microfiber Shedding

Summary

Turns out how tightly a fabric's threads are twisted and packed together, decisions made before a piece of clothing is even sewn, plays a big role in how many tiny plastic fibers it sheds into water, air, and eventually our bodies. The researchers propose a scoring system to measure this "shedding risk" and suggest that designing yarns smarter from the start (or using plant-based fibers) could cut microplastic pollution before it happens, rather than trying to filter it out later. This matters because microplastics have been found in human blood, lungs, and organs, and reducing shedding at the manufacturing stage could be a more effective f