Fiber release during domestic textile washing is a cause of marine microplastic pollution, but better understanding of the magnitude of the issue and role of fabric care products, appliances and washing cycles is needed. Soiled consumer wash loads from U.K. households were found to release a mean of 114 ± 66.8 ppm (mg microfiber per kg fabric) (n = 79) fibers during typical washing conditions and these were mainly composed of natural fibers. Microfiber release decreased with increasing wash load size and hence decreasing water to fabric ratio, with mean microfiber release from wash loads in the mass range 1.0-3.5 kg (n = 57) found to be 132.4 ± 68.6 ppm, significantly (p = 3.3 x 10 −8) higher than the 66.3 ± 27.0 ppm of those in the 3.5-6.0 kg range (n = 22). In further tests with similar soiled consumer wash loads, moving to colder and quicker washing cycles (i.e. 15˚C for 30 mins, as opposed to 40˚C for 85 mins) significantly reduced microfiber generation by 30% (p = 0.036) and reduced whiteness loss by 42% (p = 0.000) through reduced dye transfer and soil re-deposition, compared to conventional 40˚C cycles. In multicycle technical testing, detergent pods were selected for investigation and found to have no impact on microfiber release compared to washing in water alone. Fabric softeners were also found to have no direct impact on microfiber release in testing under both European and North American washing conditions. Extended testing of polyester fleece garments up to a 48-wash cycle history under European conditions found that microfiber release significantly reduced to a consistent low level of 28.7 ± 10.9 ppm from eight through 64 washes. Emerging North American High-Efficiency top-loading washing machines generated significantly lower microfiber release than traditional top-loading machines, likely due to their lower water fill volumes and hence lower water to fabric ratio, with a 69.7% reduction observed for polyester fleece (n = 32, p = 7.9 x 10 −6) and 37.4% reduction for polyester T-shirt (n = 32, p = 0.0032). These results conclude that consumers can directly reduce the levels of microfibers generated per wash during domestic textile washing by using colder and quicker wash cycles, washing complete (but not overfilled) loads, and (in North America) converting to High-Efficiency washing machines. Moving to colder and quicker cycles will also indirectly reduce microfiber release by extending the lifetime of clothing, leading to fewer new garments being purchased and
Pd(II) complexes in which 2-pyridyldiphenylphosphine (Ph(2)Ppy) chelates the Pd(II) centre have been prepared and characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and by X-ray crystallographic analysis. trans-[Pd(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)(2)Cl(2)] is transformed into [Pd(kappa(2)-Ph(2)Ppy)(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)Cl]Cl by the addition of a few drops of methanol to dichloromethane solutions, and into [Pd(kappa(2)-Ph(2)Ppy)(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)Cl]X by addition of AgX or TlX, (X = BF(4)(-), CF(3)SO(3)(-) or MeSO(3)(-)). [Pd(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)(2)(p-benzoquinone)] can be transformed into [Pd(kappa(2)-Ph(2)Ppy)(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)(MeSO(3))][MeSO(3)] by the addition of two equivalents of MeSO(3)H. Addition of further MeSO(3)H affords [Pd(kappa(2)-Ph(2)Ppy)(kappa(1)-Ph(2)PpyH)(MeSO(3))][MeSO(3)](2). Addition of two equivalents of CF(3)SO(3)H, MeSO(3)H or CF(3)CO(2)H and two equivalents of Ph(2)Ppy to [Pd(OAc)(2)] in CH(2)Cl(2) or CH(2)Cl(2)-MeOH affords [Pd(kappa(2)-Ph(2)Ppy)(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)X]X, (X = CF(3)SO(3)(-), MeSO(3)(-) or CF(3)CO(2)(-)), however addition of two equivalents of HBF(4).Et(2)O affords a different complex, tentatively formulated as [Pd(kappa(2)-Ph(2)Ppy)(2)]X(2). Addition of excess acid results in the clean formation of [Pd(kappa(2)-Ph(2)Ppy)(kappa(1)-Ph(2)PpyH)(X)]X(2). In methanol, addition of MeSO(3)H and three equivalents of Ph(2)Ppy to [Pd(OAc)(2)] affords [Pd(kappa(2)-Ph(2)Ppy)(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)(2)][MeSO(3)](2) as the principal Pd-phosphine complex. The fluxional processes occuring in these complexes and in [Pd (kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)(3)Cl]X, (X = Cl, OTf) and the potential for hemilability of the Ph(2)Ppy ligand has been investigated by variable-temperature NMR. The activation entropy and enthalpy for the regiospecific fluxional processes occuring in [Pd(kappa(2)-Ph(2)Ppy)(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)(2)][MeSO(3)](2) have been determined and are in the range -10 to -30 J mol(-1) K(-1) and ca. 30 kJ mol(-1) respectively, consistent with associative pathways being followed. The observed regioselectivities of the exchanges are attributed to the constraints imposed by microscopic reversibility and the small bite angle of the Ph(2)Ppy ligand. X-Ray crystal structure determinations of trans-[Pd(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)(2)Cl(2)], [Pd(kappa(2)-Ph(2)Ppy)(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)Cl][BF(4)], [Pd(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)(2)(p-benzoquinone)], trans-[Pd(kappa(1)-Ph(2)PpyH)(2)Cl(2)][MeSO(3)](2), and [Pd(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)(3)Cl](Cl) are reported. In [Pd(kappa(2)-Ph(2)Ppy)(kappa(1)-Ph(2)Ppy)Cl][BF(4)] a donor-acceptor interaction is seen between the pyridyl-N of the monodentate Ph(2)Ppy ligand and the phosphorus of the chelating Ph(2)Ppy resulting in a trigonal bipyramidal geometry at this phosphorus.
Vented tumble dryers release moist warm air from the drying process to the external environment, usually through pipework linking the appliance to a vent in an exterior wall. Although such dryers contain a lint filter to remove fibers from this air stream, recent reports suggest that this process is incomplete, leading to microfibers being released in the ducted warm air and subsequently polluting the external environment. Microfiber release from wash loads comprising 10 100% cotton and 10 100% polyester T-shirts (total load mass ratio 48% cotton, 52% polyester) was measured at different stages of the washing and drying process to compare the quantities of fibers released ‘down the drain’, collected in the dryer lint filter, and released to air from the tumble dryer. Testing under both European and North American washing conditions found that the quantities of microfibers released to air during tumble drying were significant and comparable to levels released ‘down the drain’ during washing. Use of conventional rinse-added liquid fabric conditioner increased microfiber accumulation on the dryer lint filter, with reduced release from the dryer exhaust observed at the highest fabric conditioner dose tested (21.6% and 14.2% reduction under North American and European conditions, respectively). Conventional liquid fabric conditioner did not significantly impact microfiber release from the washing machine, in line with previous studies. A fabric conditioner specially designed for anti-wrinkle performance reduced microfiber release from the dryer exhaust at all levels tested (by 17.6–35.6%, depending on dose), apparently by increasing the efficiency of microfiber accumulation in the lint filter. Tumble dryer sheets were also found to cause a reduction in microfiber release from the dryer exhaust (by 14.1–34.9%, depending on the dose/product), likely driven by collection of liberated fibers on the sheet during the drying process. The use of both antiwrinkle liquid fabric conditioner and dryer sheet enabled a 44.9% reduction in microfiber emissions from the dryer exhaust. In all studies, the fiber mass collected on the lint filter or emitted from the dryer exhaust was richer in cotton fibers (range 83.4–96.3% on the lint filter, 93.0–99.8% from the dryer exhaust) than the wash load composition (48% cotton). Moreover, fibers collected by the lint filter contained a higher proportion of polyester than emissions from the dryer exhaust (range 3.7–16.6% on the lint filter, 0.2–7.0% from the dryer exhaust). There is significant variation in the porosity of lint filters among installed vented tumble dryers. Single-variable testing of the impact of lint filter design concluded that reducing screen pore size significantly reduces airborne microfiber release during tumble drying; a reduction in lint filter pore size from 0.2 mm2 to 0.04 mm2 reduced release by 34.8%. As some lint filters have pore sizes of around 1 mm2, there is enormous scope to reduce microfiber release from dryers though improved lint filter design. However, it is suggested that a step-change in appliance design away from vented dryers to only fully-sealed condenser dryers might be necessary to eliminate the contribution of tumble drying to airborne microfiber pollution.
A study on contactless airborne transfer of textile fibres between different garments in small compact semi-enclosed spaces. Forensic Science International, 315. p. 110432.
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