WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, JOSHUA SHERURCIJ
The first global look at the distribution of microscopic plastic fibers, called microplastics—shed from your favorite winter fleece, for example—showed that the synthetic lint is more widespread and found in higher quantities than one might have guessed. None of the 18 beaches sampled by the researchers on six continents was lint free, with each cup of sand harboring somewhere between 2 and 31 polyester- or acrylic-based fibers. Beaches near areas with higher population densities contained greater amounts of the synthetic fibers, suggesting that humans are a likely source for the pollution.
The study, published in the 1 November issue of Environmental Science and Technology, also quantified the number of fibers lost in the laundry. A single polyester item, such as a blanket or fleece sweater, ...
