Although it’s known that washing clothes releases microfibers into wastewater, it’s unclear how drying impacts the environment. Now, a pilot study in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters reports that a single dryer could discharge up to 120 million microfibers annually — considerably more than from washing machines.
Microfibers can come from natural fabrics, such as cotton, or synthetic ones, such as polyester — which are also considered to be microplastics. Releasing microfibers into the environment is a concern because they can adsorb and transport pollutants long distances. And the fibers themselves can be irritants if they are ingested or inhaled. Previous studies have shown that microfibers are released from clothes washers into laundry water, but this waste is treated, removing some or most of the fibers before the water is discharged into rivers or streams. However, there’s very little information about whether dryers, whose air passes through a duct and is vented directly to the outdoors, are an important source of airborne microfibers and microplastic contamination in nature.
— source American Chemical Society | Jan 12, 2022