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When it comes to fashion, we need to stop the fallout caused by our own ingenuity before it’s too late, writes Shelley Rogers.
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This summer, people flocked to see “Oppenheimer,” a film about the inventor of the atomic bomb.
On the one hand, the film reminded viewers that the genius of humankind lies in constantly pushing the boundaries of science and technology, inventing new ways to protect ourselves, extend our lifespans, improve our communication and convenience – in short, changing things for the better.
It is commonly argued that the atomic bomb ended World War II, thereby saving many lives.
At the same time, the device was used to destroy Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing horrific deaths and injuries to thousands of people, and ushering in the nuclear age, an existential threat we see constantly looming on the horizon.
But the ultimate question is: how often have we invented things – even things that seem quite harmless at first glance – without really thinking about the future and considering how deadly they might ultimately be?
Every time we wash our clothes, we dump tonnes of textiles into the ocean.
Take plastic clothing, for example. When polyester clothing was introduced to the public in 1951, one of the selling points was that it could be worn for 68 days straight without any care and still look new.
Because it was so cheap to produce, no one foresaw that one day it would suddenly be overproduced, or the consequences that the material itself would have.
Today, 69% of the fabrics we wear are made from petroleum-based plastics: polyester has the chemical name polyethylene terephthalate, acrylic is polyurethane, nylon is polyhexamethylene adipamide, and spandex is a polyether polyurea copolymer.
But with clothing production exploding since the early 2000s, reaching 100 billion pieces per year, and polyester fiber production predicted to exceed 92 million tonnes over the next decade, a 47% increase, it is the smallest part of clothing that is the most insidious problem.
Every time we wash our clothes, thousands of tiny fibre particles (less than 5mm in length) are released into the water.
Globally, 500,000 tonnes of microfibers from washing machines end up in the ocean every year, and microfibers from clothing account for 35% of the 171 trillion microplastic pieces in the ocean.
If the bottom of the food chain suffers, we suffer too.
While images of sea turtles suffocating in plastic bags and dead fish caught in nylon drift nets are familiar, less is known about the role microfibers play in other parts of the marine world.
Once in the ocean, they become trapped in the guts of zooplankton, bivalve mollusks, crustaceans, coral polyps and other important aquatic organisms at the base of the food pyramid, where they influence the entire food chain.
Studies have shown that the accumulation of these fibres in marine organisms affects feeding and growth, causing genetic damage, oxidative stress, behavioural effects, reduced reproductive and reproductive capacity and reduced mortality.
Adding to the dilemma are the toxic chemicals that are coated on microfiber, including azo dyes and a mixture of toxic PFCs, BPA and phthalates that are meant to make clothes wrinkle-, stain- and water-repellent.
The situation is only getting worse
To make matters worse, microfibers are also vectors for toxic chemicals floating in the ocean, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), as well as heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and cadmium, can easily adhere to microfibers.
Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) capture many microfibers in their biosolids sludge, and these solids are transported to agricultural land where they are used as fertilizer.
There is evidence that microfibers and the toxic chemicals they carry can have a negative impact on terrestrial ecosystems, depriving plants of moisture and affecting soil biota, rooting ability and soil nutrient cycling.
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In March 2022, scientists at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam discovered that microfibers, which are known to be present inside our bodies (deep inside the lungs, in the intestines where they appear to cause inflammation, the heart, the placenta and breast milk), are also present in our bloodstream.
What damage are we doing to ourselves?
Now we are in a panic: whereas relatively few scientific papers were written after the first studies on microplastics and health in 2009, hundreds have appeared in the past few years.
Hopefully, these studies will answer questions such as: Do microfibers cross the infant brain barrier? Do white blood cells attack them and cause chronic inflammation? Do they attach to red blood cells and contribute to cardiovascular disease or affect fertility? What exactly do microfibers do?
While the microplastics that shed from our clothes and the “forever chemicals” they contain cannot be recovered, there is hope.
In France, a law passed in 2020 will require all new washing machines to be equipped with microfiltration devices by 2025.
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If AB 1628 passes, California would follow suit and require all washing machines to have microfilters by 2029. The idea is also in development in other states.
The enormous impact of our own ingenuity must stop.
There is no doubt that all domestic and commercial washing machines should be fitted with microfiber filters.
These filters are estimated to capture over 90% of microfibers from clothing, thereby significantly reducing the amount sent to wastewater treatment plants and ultimately the world.
Filters alone are not the answer: the industry needs to redesign clothes to prevent fiber shedding in the first place, and they need to educate consumers by labeling clothes to reflect the amount of shedding and how to prevent it.
We also need legislation like New York’s Fashion Law, which aims to regulate the excessive production and consumption of fast fashion and the massive waste it creates.
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But we need to stop the fallout caused by our own ingenuity when it comes to fashion before it’s too late.
Shelley Rogers is the Fashion Director of EARTHDAY.ORG, the global organizer of Earth Day and the world’s largest recruiter for the environmental movement.
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