KJEMI nr. 5 - 2019

1 0 K J E M I 5 2 0 1 9 Are our clothes polluting the oceans? MPs and MPFs have been found everywhere, including beaches, coastal waters, remote regions of the oceans and sediments from the tropics to the polar ice caps. 2,3 MPs are also found in a huge variety of aquatic animals, and even on our dinner plate. 4,5 What exactly are MPFs? And how do they end up in the environment? MPFs in the environment may originate from a number of sources including synthetic fishing nets and ropes. 6 However, the sustained increa- se in synthetic textile production has caused the scientific community to draw attention to the fate and potential effects of textile fibres. Up to 60% of the clothes we buy are made up of synthetic fibres such as polyester, acrylic and nylon. 1,7 Synthetic fibres have low production costs and can easily be made into textiles, which are both durable and versatile. Studies have shown that a single household wash of synthetic clothing can release up to 700 000 MPFs, which end up at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). 8 Here, a large proportion will be removed into the solid waste. However, due to the high amount of MP and MPFs entering WWTPs, relatively large amounts still pass through WWTPs and enter our oceans and rivers every year. 9-11 Additionally, MPFs are constantly released from clothing and enter the environ- ment simply through everyday use. 12,13 The rate of fibre release is dependent on multiple factors, including textile type, age, washing conditions and construction (e.g. woven, knitted etc.). 14,15 Release of fibres from household washing is often more significant either during early stages, when a product is new or during later stages after the product is considered quite “worn”. 8 It is well known that microplastics (MPs), plastic particles or fragments below 5 mm in size, are ubiquitous in the environment. Recently, it was found that MP fibres (MPFs) are the dominate type of MPs in marine environmental compartments, comprising up to 91% 1 . Shannen Thora Lea Sait, PhD stipendiat, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet Figur_1: (Vox, 2019) Figur_2: (Vox, 2019)