Microplastics, meaning any plastic object smaller than 5 millimeters, constitute the vast majority of plastic particles polluting marine habitats. And recent research on microfibers — thin strands of plastic used in synthetic textiles — shows that these tiny particles make up a large share of the microplastic pollution.
How plastic from clothing gets into seafood
... and what your laundry has to do with it.
Microfibers are woven into fabrics that are cheap to produce and comfortable to wear, like polyester and nylon. Since they arrived on the market in the late 1940s, companies have been using more and more of them.
But every time we do laundry, a small amount of microfibers is separated from clothing made from these materials. Since those pieces of plastic are extremely small, they’re able to make their way through water treatment centers and into the ocean. Once they reach marine habitats, microfibers work their way up the food chain, and eventually, they reach us when we eat seafood contaminated with microfibers.
While research is just beginning to show how this negatively affects humans, some studies are finding that microplastics have the potential to attract concentrations of toxins, which are passed between organisms that consume them.
To learn more about this process and what you can do to stop it, watch the video above and read Vox reporter Brian Resnick’s in-depth article on the topic.
You can find this video and all of Vox’s videos on YouTube. And if you’re interested in supporting our video journalism, you can become a member of the Vox Video Lab on YouTube.
Correction: At 1:04, we mistakenly suggested that rayon is made from plastic. In fact, it is derived from cellulose.
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