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Airborne emissions of microplastic fibres from domestic laundry dryers
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Domestic tumble dryers were confirmed as a source of airborne microplastic fibers, with samples taken during operation containing significantly more fibers than background air levels. The study is the first to measure microplastic fiber emissions from mechanical drying, identifying indoor air as a key exposure environment.
An emission source of microplastics into the environment is laundering synthetic textiles and clothing. Mechanical drying as a pathway for emitting microplastics, however, is poorly understood. In this study, emissions of microplastic fibres were sampled from a domestic vented dryer to assess whether mechanical drying of synthetic textiles releases microplastic fibres into the surrounding air or are captured by the inbuilt filtration system. A blue polyester fleece blanket was repeatedly washed and dried using the 'Normal Dry' program of a common domestic dryer operated at temperatures between 56 and 59 °C for 20 min. Microfibres in the ambient air and during operation of the dryer were sampled and analysed using microscopy for particle quantification and characterisation followed by Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Pyrolysis Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Pyr-GC/MS) for chemical characterisation. Blue fibres averaged 6.4 ± 9.2 fibres in the room blank (0.17 ± 0.27 fibres/m), 8.8 ± 8.5 fibres (0.05 ± 0.05 fibres/m) in the procedural blank and 58 ± 60 (1.6 ± 1.8 fibres/m) in the sample. This is the first study to measure airborne emissions of microplastic fibres from mechanical drying, confirming that it is an emission source of microplastic fibres into air - particularly indoor air.
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