International Marine Litter Research Unit, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, U.K..
International Marine Litter Research Unit, School of Biological and Marine Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, U.K.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Oct 10;738:140412. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140412. Epub 2020 Jul 16.
The washing of synthetic clothes is considered to be a substantial source of microplastic to the environment. Therefore, various devices have been designed to capture microfibres released from clothing during the washing cycle. In this study, we compared 6 different devices which varied from prototypes to commercially available products. These were designed to either be placed inside the drum during the washing cycle or fitted externally to filter the effluent wastewater discharge. The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of these devices at mitigating microfibre release from clothing during washing or at capturing any microfibres released in the wastewater. When compared to the amount of microfibres entering the wastewater without any device (control), the XFiltra filter was the most successful device. This device captured microfibres reducing their release to wastewater by around 78%. The Guppyfriend bag was the second most successful device, reducing microfibre release to wastewater by around 54%; it appeared to mainly work by reducing microfibre shedding from the clothing during the washing cycle. Despite some potentially promising results it is important to recognise that fibres are also released when garments are worn in everyday use. Researchers and industry need to continue to collaborate to better understand the best intervention points to reduce microfibre shedding, by considering both product design and fibre capture.
合成衣物的洗涤被认为是环境中微塑料的一个主要来源。因此，已经设计了各种设备来捕获衣物在洗涤周期中释放的微纤维。在这项研究中，我们比较了 6 种不同的设备，从原型机到市售产品都有涉及。这些设备旨在放置在洗涤周期中的滚筒内或安装在外部以过滤废水排放。本研究的目的是检查这些设备在减轻衣物在洗涤过程中释放微纤维或捕获废水中释放的任何微纤维方面的效果。与没有任何设备（对照）时进入废水中的微纤维数量相比，XFiltra 过滤器是最成功的设备。该设备捕获了微纤维，将其释放到废水中的量减少了约 78%。Guppyfriend 袋是第二成功的设备，将微纤维释放到废水中的量减少了约 54%；它似乎主要通过减少洗涤周期中衣物上的微纤维脱落来起作用。尽管有一些有希望的结果，但重要的是要认识到，当衣物在日常使用中穿着时，纤维也会释放出来。研究人员和行业需要继续合作，通过考虑产品设计和纤维捕获，更好地了解减少微纤维脱落的最佳干预点。
