Involved Advisor and Member: Prof. John P. GIESY, Prof. Kenneth Mei Yee LEUNG

Microplastics are a growing threat to aquatic organisms and their ecosystems. Apart from marine and freshwater environments, microplastic fibres have been found in air and terrestrial ecosystems, where they are relatively persistent. Exposure to airborne microplastics has been linked to adverse effects on the health of humans, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Although it is well known that washing clothes can release a large number of microfibers (including microplastic fibres from synthetic textiles) into wastewater, it is unclear whether drying of clothes in a household tumble dryer could release microfibers and affect the environment. Here, a pilot study of SKLMP discovers that a single dryer can discharge up to 120 million microfibers annually — 1.4 to 40 times that from washing machines.

Driers are a potential source of air contamination by microfibers, releasing 433,128–561,810 microfibers during 15 minutes of use. Interestingly, the research team also reports that the release of polyester microfibers increases with the increasing load of clothes in the dryer, but the release of cotton microfibers remains constant regardless to the loading. To control the release of these airborne microfibers, additional filtration systems should be adapted for dryer vents. The research outcomes attracted global media attention and were reported widely by newspapers worldwide. The results are published as a journal article in ES&T Letters which has been identified as a highly cited paper by the Web of Science.

Reference:

Tao, D.Y., Zhang, K., Xu, S.P., Lin, H.J., Liu, Y., Kang, J.L., Yim, T.W., Giesy, J.P., Leung, K.M.Y. (2022). Microfibers Released into the Air from a Household Tumble Dryer. Environmental Science and Technology Letters, 9, 120-126. (impact factor 11.558) – it has been viewed for 11,225 times and cited 19 times (Web of Science) up to now.