Tiny fibers create unseen plastic pollution
Patrick Mansell
"These materials, during production, processing and after use, break down into and release microfibers that can now be found in everything and everyone," said Melik Demirel, Lloyd and Dorothy Foehr Huck Endowed Chair in Biomimetic Materials.
Unlike natural fibers like wool, cotton and silk, current synthetic fibers are petroleum-based products and are mostly not biodegradable. While natural fibers can be recycled and biodegrade, mixed fibers that contain natural and synthetic fibers are difficult or costly to recycle.
Islands of floating plastic trash in the oceans are a visible problem, but the pollution produced by textiles is invisible and ubiquitous. In the oceans, these microscopic plastic pieces become incorporated into plants and animals. Harvested fish carry these particles to market and, when people eat them, they consume microplastic particles as well.
Demirel suggested four possible approaches to solving this problem. The first is to minimize the use of synthetic fibers and switch back to natural fibers such as wool, cotton, silk and linen. However, synthetic fibers are less expensive and natural fibers have other environmental costs, such as water and land-use issues.
Because much of the microfiber load that ends up in water sources comes from laundering, he suggests aftermarket filters for washing-machine outflow hoses. Clothes dryers have filters that catch lint - also microfiber waste - but current, front-loading washing machines usually do not.
"Capturing the microplastics at the source is the best filtering option," said Demirel.
He also notes that bacteria that consume plastics do exist, but are currently at the academic research phase, which takes some time to gain industrial momentum. If bacteria were used on a large scale, they could aid in biodegradation of the fibers or break the fibers down to be reused.
While these three options are possible, they do not solve the problem of the tons of synthetic fibers currently used in clothing around the world. Biosynthetic fibers, a fourth option, are both recyclable and biodegradable and could directly substitute for the synthetic fibers. They could also be blended with natural fibers to provide the durability of synthetic fibers but allow the blends to be recycled.
Derived from natural proteins, biosynthetic fibers also can be manipulated to have desirable characteristics. Demirel, who developed a biosynthetic fiber composed of proteins similar to silk but inspired by those found in squid ring teeth, suggests that by altering the number of tandem repeats in the sequencing of the proteins, the polymers can be altered to meet a variety of properties.
For example, material manufactured from biosynthetic squid ring-teeth proteins, called Squitex, is self-healing. Broken fibers or sections will reattach with water and a little pressure and enhance the mechanical properties of recycled cotton as a blend. Also, because the fibers are organic, they are completely biodegradable as well.
Other news from the department science
These products might interest you
FIBRETHERM by C. Gerhardt
Automatic Fibre Extraction for Feed Analysis
FIBRETHERM from C. Gerhardt: Efficient – Precise – Method-Compliant
Mini-UniPrep™ by Cytiva
Improved HPLC Sample Preparation
Save 66 % sample preparation time and reduce costs by 40 %
Glass and quartz microfiber filter by Cytiva
Request a glass microfiber sample pack to meet your battery development needs
Delivering efficient and consistent results
GF/C and 934-AH RTU (Environmental) by Cytiva
Meet wastewater regulations with the right filter
Streamline lab operations and ensure high-quality results
Hahnemühle LifeScience Catalogue Industry & Laboratory by Hahnemühle
Wide variety of Filter Papers for all Laboratory and Industrial Applications
Filtration Solutions in the Life Sciences, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sectors
VICI Jour Katalog 15INT by VICI
The VICI Jour Catalog - Accessories for (U)HPLC and Liquid Handling
Capillaries, Tubing, Fittings, Filters, Safety-Products, Tools and much more
Whatman filtration product guide by Cytiva
New filtration catalog - a wealth of information on 286 pages
Discover the perfect filters for your laboratory application
Get the chemical industry in your inbox
From now on, don't miss a thing: Our newsletter for the chemical industry, analytics, lab technology and process engineering brings you up to date every Tuesday and Thursday. The latest industry news, product highlights and innovations - compact and easy to understand in your inbox. Researched by us so you don't have to.