Microplastics' emissions: Microfibers’ detachment from textile garments

Belzagui, Francisco; Crespi, M.; Álvarez, Antonio Ugidos; Gutiérrez‐Bouzán, Carmen; Vilaseca, Mercedes

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2019.02.059

Cited by 178 publications

(130 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Studies using direct methods report values an order of magnitude lower: De Falco et al (2017) obtained mean lengths between 0.339 and 0.478 mm for different materials. These values are close to the rage from 0.2 to 0.4 mm obtained by Belzagui et al (2019) and from 0.1 to 0.8 mm obtained by Hernandez et al (2017). Moreover, Hernandez et al (2017) also concluded that the overall microplastic fiber length profile remained similar regardless of the washing conditions (with or without detergent or surfactant).…”

Section: Responsible Editor: Philippe Garriguessupporting

confidence: 84%

“…The length obtained in the present study is also 2 to 5 times lower than the values reported by De Falco et al 2017and Belzagui et al (2019), where direct (visual) counting methods were used. This seems to indicate that length characterization during direct counting methods provides a more accurate estimate of synthetic MF length.…”

Section: Synthetic Microfiber Characterizationcontrasting

confidence: 77%

“…Since synthetic clothing represented 37% on average of the total washed load (Table 1), the relation between washed synthetics and cotton is different from the relation between synthetic MF and cotton fibers being released. This results from the different shedding characteristics of different materials and the fabric construction, as previously reported in other studies (Sillanpää and Sainio 2017;Almroth et al 2018;Belzagui et al 2019;Yang et al 2019).…”

Section: Microfibers Type and Length Distributionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…Although the existence of synthetic microfibers is known, the quantity and physical characteristics of those that are emitted by domestic textile washing are not yet fully understood. Several studies have analyzed different variables regarding their influence on microfiber release during washings, including temperature, detergents, and type of washing machine (Napper and Thompson 2016;Pirc et al 2016;De Falco et al 2017;Belzagui et al 2019;Yang et al 2019;Zambrano et al 2019), but comparison between studies is not always possible given the different methods and units used to present results. Two main methods have been used to characterize MF emissions: direct methods, where a sample of the washing water is filtered, MF are counted using microscopy, and results are expressed as the number of MF released per unit volume of washing water or per weight load of the washing machine; and indirect methods where MF are retained in a filter and their mass is calculated, to determine a release rate per garment or per unit area of fabric.…”

Section: Responsible Editor: Philippe Garriguesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An initial filtration of the raw washing water revealed a densely overlapping of fibers in the filter which prevented a proper counting. To overcome this situation, a dilution prior to filtration was adopted, similar to other studies such as Belzagui et al (2019). A 20-mL sample of each wash was collected and diluted to 1:10 to produce a final volume of 200 mL.…”

Section: Filtration Of the Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Microplastics in wastewater: microfiber emissions from common household laundry

Galvão¹,

Aleixo²,

Pablo³

et al. 2020

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Microplastics are widely recognized as a category of emergent pollutants that can cause complex ecotoxicological effects. Synthetic fibers released during the washing of textiles are a relevant source of microplastics, which reach aquatic ecosystems from sewer discharges, even when there is retention in wastewater treatment plants. In this paper, we determined microfiber emissions from washing of textiles in a domestic environment, by collecting wastewater from washings of a mix of clothing from a household of 4 people. It is the first time the characterization of microplastic emission from textiles washing is performed in real household conditions. Results estimated an average emission rate of 18,000,000 synthetic microfibers for a reference load of 6 kg of synthetic fibers. Only 7% of the synthetic fibers found were larger than 500 μm in length, 40% were between 100 and 500 μm, and 53% were between 50 and 100 μm.

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Section: Responsible Editor: Philippe Garriguessupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Synthetic Microfiber Characterizationcontrasting

confidence: 77%

Section: Microfibers Type and Length Distributionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Responsible Editor: Philippe Garriguesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Filtration Of the Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Microplastics in wastewater: microfiber emissions from common household laundry

Galvão¹,

Aleixo²,

Pablo³

et al. 2020

Environ Sci Pollut Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Garment ageing in a laundry care process under household‐like conditions

et al. 2023

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This study reflects typical consumer textile washing behaviour while taking into account existing standards in the household appliance and garment industries. Two garments were washed repeatedly with artificial dirt and detergent 30 times. The collected washing water was separated using fractional filtration. Textile physical tests were used to follow property changes of the garments, the microplastic release is determined using thermoextraction/desorbtion–gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and the total organic carbon was measured as a sum parameter for the organic bonded carbon. This article shows the importance of a reality‐based approach when investigating microplastics of textile origin in the laundry care process. Deposits of detergent and dirt on the textiles were detected. The total mass of sieve residues was much higher than the release of synthetic polymers. The cotton content of the garments causes a much higher fibre release than synthetic fibres. Both will lead to false results by purely gravimetric analysis because nonpolymer fibres will be included microplastic mass. The results cannot be generalised only by the main polymer type, knowledge of the textile construction must be included for final evaluation.

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Microplastics in Abiotic Compartments of a Hypersaline Lacustrine Ecosystem

Alirezazadeh

Nematollahi

Keshavarzi

et al. 2022

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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The study of microplastics in inland water bodies has been growing recently, but there is still insufficient knowledge of the status of microplastics in lacustrine ecosystems, especially saline lakes. Studies have also been conducted on sediment, water, and biological compartments of lakes. In the present study, the status of microplastics in abiotic compartments of the saline Maharloo Lake (Iran) was evaluated for the first time and included surface sediment, lake salt, sludge, lake water, and wastewater. A total of 742 microplastics, mainly clear and fibrous, ranging from 50 to 250 µm in size and composed of polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate, were identified in 33 samples. Mean microplastic concentrations in solid samples were higher than in liquid ones, with the highest levels (51.7 microplastics kg −1 ) in sludge and the lowest levels in lake salt (10.4 microplastics kg −1 ). The highest microplastic levels were found in the northwest area of the lake, where wastewater effluents from urban, industrial, and agricultural activities discharge into the lake. Inter-relationship assessments of microplastics with hierarchical cluster analysis suggested that differences in the distribution of microplastics with different physical properties in Maharloo Lake are greatly affected by weathering processes and proximity to contaminated hotspots. Our results reveal that the widespread occurrence of microplastics in Maharloo Lake mostly originates from potential plastic sources in urban areas of Shiraz Metropolis and its industrial zone in the vicinity of the study area; thus microplastics are dispersed into the lake via surface runoffs, especially wastewater inflows.

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Microplastics' emissions: Microfibers’ detachment from textile garments

Cited by 178 publications

References 37 publications

Microplastics in wastewater: microfiber emissions from common household laundry

Microplastics in wastewater: microfiber emissions from common household laundry

Garment ageing in a laundry care process under household‐like conditions

Microplastics in Abiotic Compartments of a Hypersaline Lacustrine Ecosystem

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