Increasing evidence that microplastics in clothes may be harmful to health

Tiny plastic particles that come off of synthetic clothing are not only bad for the environment but there is also growing evidence that they cause health damage if people inhale them or ingest them through their mouths. The Plastic Soup Foundation analyzed hundreds of publications on the health risks of microplastics and summarized them in a report titled “Do clothes make us sick?”

According to the researchers, the honest answer is: “We don’t know for sure yet, but the scientific evidence is piling up.” Loose fibers of synthetic materials like polyester, nylon, acrylic, and polyamide are, in any case, abundant in our living environment, indoors and outdoors.

In the report, the Plastic Soup Foundation cites studies that show that microplastics can penetrate deep into the lungs and possibly cause inflammation. High exposure to nylon fibers can lead to Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, another bowel disease. Research among workers at nylon mills in the US and Canada showed that 4 percent develop lung disease after prolonged exposure. These people have reduced lung capacity, shortness of breath, and cough a lot.

Young children, in particular, get full exposure to microplastics while playing. Researcher Barbo Melgert of the University of Groningen, who contributed to the report, showed with her own research that especially young lung cells are inhibited in their development if they come into contact with nylon fibers too much. “It’s worrying that children inhale twice as many plastic fibers as adults because their lungs are still developing,” she said.

Some of the microplastics around us come from clothing. The Plastic Soup Foundation, therefore, sees part of the solution in the clothing industry. The organization advocates for stricter regulations and, simultaneously, wants to make consumers aware of the risks of “fast fashion” - cheap clothing that often falls apart quickly. By delivering better quality, the clothing industry can do something about this. As far as the Plastic Soup Foundation is concerned, the clothing industry must reduce the plastic fibers in their clothing by half within five years.

“It must be banned to market clothes that wear out so quickly and lose so much fiber that they look like the emperor’s new clothes after five washes,” said Plastic Soup Foundation director Maria Westerbos.