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Microfibre and nanofibre: pollution and environmental impacts
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This review examines microfibres and nanofibres — shed from clothing and textiles during use and washing — as a significant but poorly quantified category of environmental pollutants. Up to 4.28 million metric tonnes of microfibres enter the environment each year, with synthetic garment laundering responsible for about 35% of that total, yet natural fibre shedding is largely ignored in sustainability assessments. The authors argue that both synthetic and natural microfibres need to be included in environmental impact frameworks, especially as fast fashion drives ever-increasing textile production.
Microfibres (particles < 5mm in diameter) and nanofibers (particles between 1-100nm) are hidden pollutants that can either be airborne and break off of apparel and/or extiles that are in use, or during the laundry/cleaning process. The latter remains under-explored as a research area and warrants further investigation. It is estimated that 0.48-4.28 million metric tonnes of microfibres enter the environment annually. This number further increases when considering nanofibers, which currently lack research especially in terms of how to record them (nanofibers) and their impact. Of the 0.48-4.28 million metric tonnes of microfibres, 35% are attributed to laundering (synthetic) garments/textiles. With increased garment/textile production, linked to fast fashion trends, this issue will continue to accelerate. Previous research outlined that there is a prospect to include microplastic fibres in environmental sustainability assessments. We argue that it is vital to expand this by including microfibres and nanofibers in environmental sustainability assessments from natural and synthetic materials alike thereby developing inventory data that could be used to measure the sustainability impacts of these particles, which, to the authors’ knowledge, remains under-researched.
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