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The effect of mechanical action on the release of microplastic fibers during washing
Summary
Researchers designed a washing simulation device to isolate and study the effects of three mechanical actions — abrasion, hydrodynamic flow, and beating — on the release of microplastic fibers from fabrics during laundering. The study found that floating fibers from the production process are released first, while mechanical abrasion generates additional fiber fragments, with implications for understanding and reducing microplastic fiber emissions to wastewater.
The release of microplastic fibers (MPFs) during washing is the main source of microplastic pollution in water environment. Mechanical action is the principle factor affecting the release of MPFs during washing. In order to better understand the effect of washing mechanical action on the release of MPFs, a washing simulation device was designed to study the effects of abrasion action, hydrodynamic flow action and beating action on the release of MPFs. The results show that there is a certain amount of floating MPF in the fabric due to the production process. The floating MPFs can be released in large quantities even though the mechanical action is weak, accounting for about 28% of the total MPF release. In addition, the release of secondary MPFs increases with the mechanical action. The increase of the abrasion times between fabric and fabric has the most significant effect on the release of MPFs. Compared with 60 abrasion times, the number of MPFs increased by about 16% and the average length decreased by 40% when abrasion was 5000 times. This study enhances the understanding of how mechanical action during washing affects the release of MPFs. This emphasizes the impact of floating MPFs, as well as the need to optimize the washing process to reduce the emission of MPFs.