Hidden Danger: Plastics and Oligomers Lurking in Laundry

Plastics and oligomers, often overlooked, are quietly making their way into our daily laundry routines. These microscopic particles are released from synthetic fabrics and detergents during washing, potentially impacting both human health and the environment. As awareness grows, scientists and environmentalists are urging consumers to consider eco-friendlier options and to better understand the long-term effects of these invisible pollutants. Addressing this hidden issue is essential to reducing our ecological footprint and protecting future generations.

Oligomers are emitted when polyester fabrics are washed. Alongside this, synthetic clothing and plastic household items also release microplastics - tiny particles smaller than five millimeters - that often go unnoticed in the environment. Some of these are even smaller, measured in nanometers, and known as nanoplastics. Due to their minute size, these particles can potentially enter the human body, though their toxic effects remain largely unknown and are still being studied.

Researchers from Empa, led by Bernd Nowack in the Technology and Society laboratory, collaborated with Chinese scientists to explore these tiny particles further. Tong Yang, the lead author, conducted this research during his PhD at Empa. Their previous work had already confirmed that washing polyester can shed both microplastics and nanoplastics. However, their recent study revealed that not all particles identified as nanoplastics actually fall into that category.

A significant number of the particles found were not true nanoplastics but rather clusters of oligomers - molecules that are smaller than polymers but larger than individual monomers. These oligomers are even tinier than nanoplastics and their health impacts are not well understood either. The study’s findings were published in the journal Nature Water.

The team tested a dozen polyester fabrics, such as microfiber, satin, and jersey, washing each up to four times and analyzing the released particles. According to Nowack, detecting nanoplastics is particularly tricky due to the widespread presence of plastic particles even on research tools, which can interfere with measurements.

To separate nanoplastics from oligomer clusters, the researchers used ethanol. Plastic particles don’t dissolve in ethanol, but oligomers do. This approach revealed that between 30 to 90 percent of the nanoparticles observed during washing were actually soluble oligomer clusters. This distinction helped clarify that many assumed nanoplastics were not plastics at all.

Whether these nanoparticulate oligomers harm human health or the environment remains uncertain. Other plastic types have shown that these small oligomers might be even more toxic than nanoplastics, suggesting a need for deeper investigation. Interestingly, the team found that the fabric type or how it was cut - by scissors or laser - didn’t significantly impact the volume of particles released.

The exact reasons why nanoplastics and oligomers are released during washing are still unknown. However, it is reassuring that fewer particles are emitted with repeated washing. It’s possible that these particles either originate during the textile’s production or result from chemical breakdowns while in storage. This area, too, needs further research.

Nowack’s team is shifting focus to larger particles for future work. They plan to study fibers released from textiles made of renewable materials, such as viscose or lyocell, to determine if they pose similar environmental or health risks. Although these semi-synthetic fabrics are being promoted as greener alternatives to polyester, their fiber-shedding behavior has yet to be fully understood.

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Source: scitechdaily‍