It seems like microfiber materials should be a major contributor to micro plastics, especially with all the laundering of the microfiber cloths and clothes.
It seems like microfiber materials should be a major contributor to micro plastics, especially with all the laundering of the microfiber cloths and clothes.
Others have pointed out that microfiber would already be considered microplastic, but maybe you’re aware of that and are thinking that microplastics are plastics that are manufactured to be microscopic (like fiberglass is manufactured as microscopic glass).
But all (petroleum-based) plastics break down into microplastics, whatever scale they’re originally manufactured at. Microfiber is no different from other synthetic cloth in that respect—while it should be avoided like other synthetics, there’s no reason to single it out.
I’m thinking of it like the micro plastics that were purposely added to bath wash and soap, and now are banned for use in that purpose. I’m not entirely sure I understand the logic behind why those are (justifiably) banned, but microfiber cloths are not.
My stupid question is because I haven’t seen any other news articles specifically talking about microfiber and its contribution to micro plastics.
There is a distinction between “primary” microplastics like you’re describing, and “secondary” microplastics caused by the breakdown of larger items.
From Wikipedia: