Garments made with polymer-based cloth can release as many as 1,900 microfibers per wash that eventually end up in waterways.
Microfibers may pose a threat to waterways and aquatic life. Less than five millimeters long, they’re not filtered by washing machines or water treatment plants and have been found in everything from bottled water to sea salt to fish.

The fibers are about the size of plankton, and many marine organisms may ingest the material when they’re feeding. They may end up in people as well. About 83 per cent of drinking water samples tested around the world contained microplastics.

Obviously it isn’t possible to get consumers to give up synthetic fibers altogether. Instead they should be encouraged to wash their clothes less often, use efficient front-loading washers and add another filter designed to catch microfibers to their machines.

And dissuading consumers from buying synthetic fabrics doesn’t acknowledge the environmental impacts of other materials, like the volume of land and water required to grow and harvest cotton.

It’s not even clear that fabrics are the most to blame. It could be that garments become more prone to shed as they age, or that top-loading washing machines agitate pieces into releasing fibers. Car tires have also been linked to shedding microplastics, which could be a big contributing factor to the problem.