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Aquatic Microfibre Release from Different Textiles During Home Laundering
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A comparative study of microfibre release from fleece, knit, and towel textiles during home laundering found that loosely constructed fabrics with natural fibres shed the most microfibres, with shedding rates declining across successive wash cycles. This research quantifies a major pathway for synthetic microfibre entry into aquatic environments, informing efforts to reduce textile-sourced microplastic pollution.
Abstract The shedding of micro-sized elements like fibres or plastics has become a major concern, evidenced by their recent presence in sensitive human organs, threatening the well-being of human health. Home laundering of textile products is a prime source of this microfibre release, specially through the aquatic medium. However, the nature and pattern of microfibre released from diverse textiles can differ based on constituent fibres and construction. This study seeks to establish a simple and cost-effective procedure for quantifying the microfibre amount released from three distinct, yet commonly used household textiles—fleece, knit and towel. The gravimetric analysis was employed to quantify microfibres captured by a filter membrane featuring ultrafine pores of 0.22 µm. The effective capture of the filter paper was reaffirmed via spectral and chemical analysis. The study further examined the microfibre release pattern through a comparative analysis of different microfibre release aspects from textiles under investigation, profiling the release trend over successive laundry cycles, and identifying the proportion of natural versus synthetic microfibre release. The prime findings suggest that textiles with loose constructions and natural fibres demonstrated relatively higher shedding. The overall detachment rate gradually declined with repeated laundry cycles. The study provides valuable insights into how textiles with different materials and constructions contribute to the environmental pollution induced by microfibre release. Graphical Abstract
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