Papers

61,005 results
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Review Tier 2

Large Scale Microplastic Fibre Analysis in Wastewater: A Comprehensive Review and Recommendations

This review critically analyzes current and emerging methods for identifying and quantifying microplastic fibers in wastewater, covering sample collection, pretreatment, and analytical techniques. The authors note that there are currently no universally accepted standards for collecting and analyzing microplastic fibers specifically, and that most existing methods were designed for microplastics in general. The study provides recommendations for developing standardized large-scale fiber analysis protocols for wastewater monitoring.

2025 Current Pollution Reports 7 citations
Article Tier 2

Review of research on migration, distribution, biological effects, and analytical methods of microfibers in the environment

This review examined the environmental distribution, transport pathways, biological effects, and analytical detection methods for microfibers as the most abundant microplastic form in the environment. Microfibers were found in marine, freshwater, atmospheric, and soil environments globally, and laundry effluent and textile industry wastewater were identified as the dominant emission sources.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 68 citations
Article Tier 2

Quantification and morphological characterization of microfibers emitted from textile washing

Textile microfibers released during washing machine cycles were quantified and characterized, with the study finding that fiber type, fabric construction, and wash conditions all influenced emission quantities. The results confirm textile washing as a significant and ongoing source of microplastic fiber pollution in wastewater.

2022 The Science of The Total Environment 49 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastic contamination in wastewater: Sources, distribution, detection and remediation through physical and chemical-biological methods

This review covers how microplastics end up in wastewater from sources like textile fibers, personal care microbeads, and broken-down plastic debris, and how they often survive the treatment process. Current removal methods like filtration and chemical degradation are costly and not fully effective. The lack of standardized ways to measure microplastics in wastewater makes it difficult to assess the full scope of human exposure through water systems.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 118 citations
Article Tier 2

Sensitive quantification and morphological analysis of microfibers in laundry wastewater: Standardization and validation of a fluorescence-based method

Synthetic microfibers shed during laundry make up a large share of microplastics found in aquatic environments, but accurately counting them in wastewater has been technically inconsistent between labs. This study standardized and validated a fluorescence-based staining method for quantifying microfibers in laundry effluent, making it faster and more accessible than conventional spectroscopic approaches. A validated standard method is critical for generating comparable data across studies and informing regulations on microfiber pollution from washing machines.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection and Analysis of Microfibers and Microplastics in Wastewater from a Textile Company

Researchers analyzed microfiber and microplastic levels in wastewater from a textile company, finding that the on-site treatment plant removed only 38–65% of microfibers, meaning up to 62% — including acrylic, polyester, and polyamide particles — can escape into receiving waterways.

2022 Microplastics 32 citations
Article Tier 2

Microfibres from Textile Industry Effluents

Researchers reviewed the fate of microfibres released from textile industry effluents, finding that conventional wastewater treatment is insufficient to fully remove fibres, which then enter receiving waterways and contribute to environmental microplastic loads.

2024
Article Tier 2

Approaches for Sampling and Sample Preparation for Microplastic Analysis in Laundry Effluents

Researchers reviewed sampling and sample preparation methods for analyzing microplastics in laundry effluents. The study highlights the lack of standardized methods for quantifying textile fiber microplastics released during washing and emphasizes the need for consistent analytical approaches to better understand this significant source of microplastic pollution.

2024 Sustainability 14 citations
Article Tier 2

A novel approach for rapid quantification and length distribution of microfibers released during domestic laundry.

Researchers developed a novel rapid method for directly quantifying microfibers released during domestic laundry and deriving their length distribution density function, addressing the lack of standardized quantification approaches for this significant source of microfiber pollution.

2025 Journal of hazardous materials
Article Tier 2

Textile microfibers reaching aquatic environments: A new estimation approach

Researchers developed a new estimation approach for quantifying the mass flow of textile microfibers from household laundry that ultimately reaches aquatic environments, addressing the absence of accurate models for assessing microfiber contributions to microplastic pollution. The method provides a more systematic framework for estimating the environmental load from domestic washing.

2020 Environmental Pollution 89 citations
Article Tier 2

Fibrous microplastics in the environment: Sources, occurrence, impacts, and mitigation strategies

This review provides a comprehensive look at fibrous microplastics, which can make up over 90 percent of microplastics found in some environmental samples. Researchers traced these fibers primarily to synthetic textiles, with laundering being a major release pathway, and documented their presence in water, soil, air, and living organisms. The study emphasizes that fiber-shaped microplastics deserve special attention due to their prevalence and unique potential to cause harm.

2024 Aquatic Toxicology 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Characterization and Quantification of Microplastics

This review examines the challenges of characterizing and quantifying microplastics across soil, air, and water environments, highlighting that fibrous microplastics — primarily from textile washing — represent the largest share in surface and groundwater and present unique analytical difficulties due to their distinct morphology and properties compared to other microplastic forms.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Wastewater Treatment Plants: Characteristics, Occurrence and Removal Technologies

This review summarizes how wastewater treatment plants are a major pathway for microplastics entering the environment, covering the types, sizes, and sources of microplastics found in wastewater. While treatment plants can remove many microplastics, significant amounts still escape into rivers and oceans through treated water and sludge. The authors evaluate various removal technologies and recommend advanced treatment methods to better prevent microplastics from reaching water supplies.

2024 Water 46 citations
Article Tier 2

Microfibers: Environmental Problems and Textile Solutions

This review argued that microfibers (long thin plastic particles) are the most numerically abundant type of microplastic in aquatic environments when sampling methods account for their shape, yet they receive less attention than other forms. The authors identified textile production and laundering as primary sources and outlined textile-based solutions including fiber-shedding-resistant fabrics and wastewater filtration.

2022 Microplastics 50 citations
Article Tier 2

Wastewater Treatment Approaches to Remove Microplastics

This review summarizes current approaches for removing microplastics from wastewater, noting that treatment plants capture many particles but are not fully effective — particularly for small fibers from laundry. Improving wastewater treatment efficiency is a key strategy for reducing the microplastic loads entering rivers and oceans.

2022 6 citations
Review Tier 2

A review on microplastic fibers and beads in wastewater: The current knowledge on their occurrence, analysis, treatment, and insights on human exposure impact

This review focuses specifically on microfibers and microbeads, the two most relevant microplastic shapes found in wastewater, covering their sources, detection methods, and health implications. Researchers found that conventional wastewater treatment plants are not designed to effectively remove these particles, allowing them to re-enter the environment. The study highlights significant gaps in our understanding of how these specific microplastic shapes affect human health and ecosystems.

2025 The Science of The Total Environment 4 citations
Article Tier 2

Method development for microplastic analysis in wastewater

This book chapter describes methods developed to detect and measure microplastics in wastewater samples, addressing the lack of standardized analytical protocols. Reliable detection methods are essential because wastewater treatment plants are a major pathway through which land-based microplastics enter aquatic environments.

2020 IWA Publishing eBooks 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics from textile origin – emission and reduction measures

This paper reviews the emission of fibrous microplastics from synthetic textiles during washing and their pathway through wastewater treatment plants into aquatic environments. It also summarizes available reduction measures such as laundry filters and fiber-releasing fabric design modifications.

2021 Green Chemistry 78 citations
Article Tier 2

Microfibers from synthetic textiles as a major source of microplastics in the environment: A review

This review examines how synthetic textile garments release thousands of microplastic fibers during each wash cycle, making laundry a major source of microplastic pollution. Even though wastewater treatment plants capture most fibers, billions still escape into waterways each day because the incoming volume is so enormous. These fibers end up in rivers, oceans, and soil, where they can be consumed by aquatic life and eventually reach humans through the food chain.

2021 Textile Research Journal 347 citations
Article Tier 2

Unraveling the ecological impact of textile microfibers: Current knowledge and research challenges

This review examines the ecological impact of textile microfibers, a major subset of microplastic pollution released during laundry and fabric wear. Researchers found significant knowledge gaps regarding how these fibers affect organisms and ecosystems, particularly when interacting with other environmental contaminants. The study calls for more standardized research methods and greater attention to this pervasive but understudied form of microplastic pollution.

2026 Marine Pollution Bulletin 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Microplastics in Wastewater by Washing Polyester Fabrics

Researchers investigated microplastic fiber release from polyester fabrics during washing, characterizing the quantity and types of microplastics generated and their potential pathway into wastewater systems as a significant source of environmental microplastic pollution.

2022 Materials 139 citations
Article Tier 2

Extraction and analytical methods of microplastics in wastewater treatment plants: Isolation patterns, quantification, and size characterization techniques

This review summarizes the different methods scientists use to find, measure, and identify microplastics in wastewater treatment plants. It found 12 distinct sample processing approaches and three categories of analytical techniques currently in use, but no single standardized method exists. The lack of consistent methods makes it hard to compare results across studies and fully understand how much microplastic enters the environment through treated wastewater.

2024 Desalination and Water Treatment 26 citations
Article Tier 2

Detection and removal of microplastics in wastewater: evolution and impact

This review covers methods for detecting and removing microplastics from wastewater, which is a major pathway for microplastics to enter the environment. Microplastics in water can carry heavy metals, disease-causing organisms, and chemical additives, and are eventually consumed by aquatic life that enters the human food chain. The authors emphasize that better wastewater treatment technology is needed to reduce human exposure to microplastics through water and seafood.

2021 Environmental Science and Pollution Research 257 citations
Article Tier 2

A Feasible and Efficient Monitoring Method of Synthetic Fibers Released during Textile Washing

Researchers developed and validated a feasible monitoring method for quantifying synthetic microfibers released from textiles during washing, addressing the need for standardized protocols to measure microfiber emissions. The method provided reproducible results for collecting and characterizing microfibers from wash effluent to support emission modeling.

2024 Microplastics 4 citations