MAINE MONITOR • July 15, 2022
Seventy-five percent of global textiles are synthetic (derived from petroleum rather than plant-based materials). So lint typically contains countless enduring plastic fibers. A single fleece jacket can shed up to 250,000 microscopic plastic fibers (microfibers) over its lifetime, researchers estimate. Not all lint is captured by the dryer’s internal screen. Microfibers spew out of dryer vents into the surrounding environment, a study conducted by two scientists found, adding to the large and growing problem of microplastic pollution. With synthetic textile production forecast to triple by 2050, there’s a clear need to rethink the constituent elements of what we wear. On climate grounds alone, it won’t be sustainable to vastly expand the production of textiles using fossil fuels. And there’s growing evidence that microfiber pollution threatens wildlife and human health. The solutions are in sight, but Rachael Miller, who runs Rozalia Project, a nonprofit focused on innovative action to reduce marine pollution, said the problem is the speed at which these things move. “The science is moving fast” in terms of learning about microfiber sources and pathways, she reflected, but in the halls of government and industry, “they’re moving at the speed of corporateness.”