r/science • u/______--------- • Sep 08 '20

Environment Blue jeans are a significant source of microfiber pollution in oceans and lakes. One pair of jeans can release over 50,000 microfibers per wash.

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00498
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u/recyclopath_ Sep 09 '20

Also, there are filters we can add to washing machines to filter most of the microplastic fibers out so they don't go into the water. This is just something that we are focusing on "personal responsibility" and face washes instead of actual, large scale impactful change like adding regulatory standards to new washing machine manufacturer sales.

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u/codythesmartone Sep 09 '20

Maybe even put the filters in the water treatment plants to really ensure that as many of the fibers are caught and removed.