In our previous post, we have shown you the impacts that consumers have on the environment. Consumers like you and I have a devastating effect on the environment as our small actions can and will accumulate overtime through microfibers that we have inadvertently and repeatedly produced. Hence, in this post, we will go in depth on how these microfibers affect our water bodies.
Microfibers as mentioned in our previous post are really small. The size of a single microfibre is 10 μm, which essentially equates to 1/100th the diameter of a strand of human hair (Singh, Mishra, & Das, 2020). Microfibers can be made out of a variety of materials, from synthetic fibre to polyester, nylon and acrylic. The problem with these microfibers is that it is very persistent and cannot biodegrade easily. Hence, with its persistence in the environment, it is highly likely that these microfibers will stay in the environment for a long time.The environment that is most affected by microfiber pollution is the water bodies especially around textile industries because the textile industries releases the polluted water into these water bodies. However, this does not exclude the fact that microfiber also contributes to soil pollution too.
Synthetic fibers like polyester are the main pollutants found in these water bodies. To make things worse, these microfibers are non biodegradable and they persist in the environment for a long time. Tiny fragments of fabric will be released into the water bodies when clothes are being washed. These tiny fragments of fabric from the synthetic fibers will end up in drainage systems and even coastlines where many people reside (Tran, 2017). It is even estimated that in a single wash laundry wash, about 121,465 acrylic, 82,672 polyester, and 22,992 poly-cotton microfibers are released into the ocean (Resnick, 2018). These microfibers move from the local drainage systems (even coming from domestic washing machines that you and I have) to big water bodies like the ocean, and even freshwater bodies are not spared. Referring back to Hill (2010), it is therefore difficult to identify the main source of pollution as many of these are nonpoint sources (NPS).
The most devastating impact is how microfibers affect marine life and ultimately affects us in the long run as we are at the top of the food chain. Due to the minute size of these microfibers, many of the filter systems in domestic washing machines are unable to filter it out and they ultimately end up in the water bodies. The minute size and low density of the microfibers, enable it to travel long distances in water. They are usually mistaken as plankton due to its size and other crustaceans will end up ingesting it. These microfibers can be classified under the persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBTs) category – they are highly toxic as they are able to absorb other toxic pollutants and accumulate in the foodchain (Singh, Mishra, & Das, 2020). Hence, when marine life ingest it, these toxic chemicals will end up being released in their bodies (Singh, Mishra, & Das, 2020). Other times, since microfibers tend to float on the water surface, some of the marine life will directly take in the plastic debris. This will result in death because these microfiber particles will block their respiratory pathways through their entry from their gills.
At the end of the food chain, these microfibers enter into our bodies when we eat these contaminated marine life. Not only that, there is also a possibility of drinking water that is contaminated. Microfibers contain substances like Pthalataes which can lead to breast cancer, damage to the liver, kidney, intestines, blood and hormone system (Singh, Mishra, & Das, 2020).
Ironically, these small microfibers have big, devastating impacts on our environment and human health.
References:
Hill, M. (2010). Water pollution. In Understanding Environmental Pollution (pp. 236-285). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511840654.010
Resnick. (2018). How much plastic is your washing machine sending out to sea?. Retrieved 13 September 2020 from https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/9/19/17800654/clothes-plastic-pollution-polyester-washing-machine
Singh, R. P., Mishra, S., & Das, A. P. (2020). Synthetic microfibers: Pollution toxicity and remediation. Chemosphere, 257, 127199. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.127199
Tran. (2017). The Dangers of Microfiber Cloths. Retrieved 13 September 2020, from https://designlifehacks.com/2017/03/07/the-dangers-of-microfiber-cloths/
