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Environmental Watch: Micro-plastic fibers from washing clothes showing up in marine environment

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posted on Jan, 29 2012 @ 05:49 PM
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From BBC News

Researchers traced the "microplastic" back to synthetic clothes, which released up to 1,900 tiny fibres per garment every time they were washed. Earlier research showed plastic smaller than 1mm were being eaten by animals and getting into the food chain. The findings appeared in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. "Research we had done before... showed that when we looked at all the bits of plastic in the environment, about 80% was made up from smaller bits of plastic," said co-author Mark Browne, an ecologist now based at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "This really led us to the idea of what sorts of plastic are there and where did they come from." Dr Browne, a member of the US-based research network National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, said the tiny plastic was a concern because evidence showed that it was making its way into the food chain. "Once the plastics had been eaten, it transferred from [the animals'] stomachs to their circulation system and actually accumulated in their cells," he told BBC News. In order to identify how widespread the presence of microplastic was on shorelines, the team took samples from 18 beaches around the globe, including the UK, India and Singapore. "We found that there was no sample from around the world that did not contain pieces of microplastic." Dr Browne added: "Most of the plastic seemed to be fibrous. "When we looked at the different types of polymers we were finding, we were finding that polyester, acrylic and polyamides (nylon) were the major ones that we were finding."

edit on 29-1-2012 by rebellender because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 29 2012 @ 05:51 PM
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Plastics from washing Synthetic clothes entering EcoSystem

Every time we turn around its something else destroying out ecosystem. Now Plastics from synthetic fabric are getting into the food chain of our Ocean Fisheries
. I say Doom on Big Business. For years now advocates of Hemp scream at the top of their lungs that Hump can produce anything that are made with poly type plastics.
Who knows where this find will land and what the damage count will be but it cannot be good for habitat or humanity
This is another "I told you so" in the cap of Innovation of Eco Friendly Products.
edit on 29-1-2012 by rebellender because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 29 2012 @ 08:20 PM
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Amazing that industry does NOT have to prove chemicals and products are safe - we have to prove they're harmful, after they've destroyed eco-systems.

What's wrong with this picture?



 
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