Body & Beauty / Products / Polyester Microfiber and Microplastic Shedding from Laundry

Polyester Microfiber and Microplastic Shedding from Laundry — safety profile

Moderate risk

Synthetic textiles (polyester, nylon, acrylic) shed 700,000+ microfibers per wash cycle — the largest source of microplastic pollution in oceans.

What is this product?

Synthetic textiles (polyester, nylon, acrylic) shed 700,000+ microfibers per wash cycle — the largest source of microplastic pollution in oceans. Polyester (PET fiber) comprises 52% of global fiber production. Microfibers pass through wastewater treatment (40-60% removal rate) into waterways. Studies detect microfibers in human blood, lung tissue, placenta, and breast milk. Antimony trioxide catalyst in polyester production is a suspected carcinogen. Fleece fabrics shed 7x more microfibers than woven polyester. Microfiber-catching laundry bags (Guppyfriend) and washing machine filters reduce shedding 80-90%.

What's in it

Click any compound name for its full safety profile, regulatory consensus, and exposure data.

Contaminant

Frequently asked questions

No FAQs generated.

Look up Polyester Microfiber and Microplastic Shedding from Laundry in the body app

Search by ingredient, browse by category, or compare to alternatives in the live app.

Open in body View raw API data

Reference data, not professional advice. Aggregates publicly available regulatory and scientific information. Why we built ALETHEIA →