The evidence is undeniable — microplastics, though largely invisible, pose a substantial threat to ecosystems, wildlife, and human health. Fortunately, solutions exist that can address this pollution that are cost-effective and are ready to be scaled.
While images of discarded plastic bottles and bags dominate news headlines, in reality, most of the plastics contaminating Earth’s waters and land are barely visible to the naked eye. Microplastics are tiny fragments of plastic that enter our environment via a myriad of sources, including clothing, tires, paints, and the breakdown of bigger plastic products.
Microplastics pollute our communities, wildlife, soil, air, and water. Once microplastics enter our environment they are nearly impossible to remove. Microplastics have been identified in some of the most remote places on the planet, from the Mariana Trench to the Antarctic and the peak of Everest. They are also in clouds and rain; the air we breathe; the water, beer, and tea we drink; the meat, seafood, and salt we eat; and throughout the human body, including our lung tissue, brain, and placentas.
The danger of microfibers
While all types of microplastics pose a major threat to the planet, microfibers — the tiny plastic fragments released from clothing during the textile manufacturing process and every time you wash them at home — are the scariest of them all. In general, microplastics are less than five millimeters in diameter (about the size of a red ant), but collectively they make up about a third of the plastic in our oceans. Microfibers from synthetic textiles are the No. 1 source of microplastic pollution, and they present a higher risk to human and planetary health than other types of microplastics.
Microfibers’ high surface area means they are more likely to carry contaminants and pathogens, and their long, thin shape means that they can enter our tissues at a higher ratio than other microplastics. This leads scientists to believe they represent a real risk to humans and other species. In fact, marine and freshwater species have suffered adverse effects from ingesting microplastics, including reduced growth, liver toxicity, intestine and gill obstruction, and endocrine and reproductive disruption.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) considers microfibers to be one of the most concerning and pervasive forms of plastic pollution. However, solutions exist that can largely eliminate microfiber pollution within a generation. Most of our grandparents, and even our parents, did not grow up in a world awash in microfibers. With focused, coordinated efforts, future generations won’t have to either. To do this, we need to take action across the life stages of synthetic textiles, from manufacturing to consumer use and disposal.
Implementing sustainable solutions
Clothing brands have the ability to significantly reduce microfiber emissions by installing capture technology in their manufacturing plants; implementing innovations to dyeing and production processes; and making design, construction, and material choices that reduce fiber shedding across the lifecycle of the textiles. TNC is developing a roadmap and resources to help brands incorporate actions now and is calling on brands to implement these existing solutions at scale to ensure our favorite articles of clothing are less harmful to the environment and ourselves.
Another effective way to reduce pollution now is through policy requiring that all new washing machines sold to the public be equipped with filtration that can capture microfibers. A single load of laundry can release up to 18 million synthetic microfibers. The technology to capture these pollutants already exists in other markets around the world and could easily become the norm for American households within a decade.
Although individual action can help in a small way — including things like buying less clothing; washing clothes less frequently; washing on the cold, gentle cycle; and disposing of lint in the trash and not the drain — we need robust, systemic change on a large scale (with a majority of responsibility on producers) to eliminate microfiber pollution. The greatest and most rapid impact will be from the clothing industry and policymakers, so the most effective way to support the elimination of microplastics in our environment and our bodies is to catalyze their coordinated action. This could be by supporting legislation on this matter, or calling for your favorite brands to implement existing, cost-effective actions to reduce microfiber emissions.
The future is in our hands. It’s up to us to continue to ensure that future generations do not inherit a world choked with plastic. Together, we can make it a reality.
