CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal.
Maretec, LARSYS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2020 Jul;27(21):26643-26649. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-08765-6. Epub 2020 May 6.
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.
微塑料被广泛认为是一类新兴污染物,可能对生态系统产生复杂的毒性效应。纺织品洗涤过程中释放的合成纤维是微塑料的一个重要来源,即使在污水处理厂有截留作用,它们仍会通过污水排放进入水生生态系统。本文通过收集四口之家混合衣物洗涤后的废水,定量分析了家庭环境中洗涤时微纤维的排放情况。这是首次在真实的家庭条件下对纺织品洗涤过程中微塑料排放进行特征描述。结果表明,在参考负荷 6 公斤合成纤维的情况下,平均排放速率为 1800 万个合成微纤维。发现的合成纤维中,只有 7%大于 500μm,40%在 100 到 500μm 之间,53%在 50 到 100μm 之间。