Washing Machines Deposit Microplastic Around World’s Shorelines
The next time you
wash your clothes think of the environment.
Not
just the temperature you wash your clothes at, but rather the contamination of the world’s shorelines by the microplastic - bits of
polyester and acrylic smaller than the head of a pin - released from
your clothes during the wash cycle.
Areas where the researchers discovered significant concentrations of microplastic
According to a study led by Dr Mark Browne from the
UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science,
University College Dublin, Ireland, over 1,900 fibres can wash off a
single piece of clothing during a machine wash cycle and end up on the
shoreline.
The findings recently published in the US journal
Environmental Science and Technology provide new insights into the
sources, sinks, and pathway of microplastic into habitats. They show
that eighteen shores across six continents were contaminated with
microplastic.
To investigate the main source of the microplastic
contamination on the beaches, Dr Browne's team examined sewage sludge
disposal sites and effluent from sewage treatment plants. They also
washed synthetic clothes and blankets, and discovered that they
released more than 100 fibres a litre of effluent.
The proportions of polyester and acrylic fibres in clothing
were found to resemble those in effluent on the beaches and at sewage
disposal sites.
This, the researchers say, suggests that the washing of
clothes - rather than the fragmentation of plastic waste or cleaning
products - was the main source of the microplastic debris on the
coastlines.
“We show polyester, acrylic, polypropylene, polyethylene, and
polyamide fibres contaminate shores on a global scale, with more in
densely populated areas and habitats that received sewage,” explains Dr
Browne.
“As the human population grows and people use more synthetic
textiles, contamination of habitats and animals by microplastic is
likely to increase,” he says.
“Designers of clothing and washing machines should consider the need to reduce the release of fibres into wastewater.”
Fragments of microplastic as seen under a light-microscope
(Copyright/credit: Dr Mark Browne, University College Dublin and Environmental Science and Technology)
According to Dr Browne and the international team of
scientists who conducted the study, work is urgently needed to
determine if microplastic can transfer from the environment and
accumulate in food-webs through ingestion.
“In humans, inhaled microplastic fibres are taken up by the
lung tissues and can become associated with tumours, while dispersive
dyes from polyester and acrylic fibres have been shown to cause
dermatitis.”
The international team included scientists from University
College Dublin, Ireland; University of Sydney, Australia; University of
Plymouth, UK; and University of Exeter, UK.
The research was funded by Leverhulme Trust (UK), the Centre
for Research on the Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities at the
University of Sydney, and Hornsby Shire Council, Australia.
Scientific article:
“Accumulation of Microplastic on Shorelines Woldwide: Sources
and Sinks” was published in the US journal Environmental Science and
Technology.
Authors include: Mark Anthony Browne, University College
Dublin; Phillip Crump, University of Plymouth; Stewart J. Niven,
University of Plymouth; Emma Teuten, University of Plymouth; Andrew
Tonkin, Waters Canada, Ontario, Canada; Tamara Galloway, University of
Exeter; and Richard Thompson, University of Plymouth.
(Produced by UCD University Relations)
