Althouse: Worrying about the 1,900 tiny plastic fibers released by each item of clothing made from synthetic fabric every time it's washed.

January 30, 2012

Worrying about the 1,900 tiny plastic fibers released by each item of clothing made from synthetic fabric every time it's washed.

"Microscopic plastic debris from washing clothes is accumulating in the marine environment and could be entering the food chain, a study has warned."

Please do not confuse this pressing problem with "A Million Little Fibers."

26 comments:

David said...: Do the fibers break down in the environment? If so, what causes the break down and how long does it take?

What is the concentration of these fibers after release?

Is there any evidence that fibers in this concentration have adverse environmental or health effects? What is the evidence?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Apparently inquiring journalists do not.; 1/30/12, 10:14 AM
Scott M said...: Vince Foster had more than 1900 tiny little carpet fibers on his suit and that turned about to be fatal, so...; 1/30/12, 10:15 AM
traditionalguy said...: So will Cotton be king once more in those ole cotton fields back home.

Organic cloth laws. That is an idea Mayor Bloomberg is waiting for in New York.; 1/30/12, 10:16 AM
Joe said...: Organic cloth laws.

Ten years after which a report will be released at the horror of tiny cotton fibers finding their way into the food chain.

When it comes to alarmist "science", the well never empties.; 1/30/12, 10:18 AM
DADvocate said...: I thought that trout had a polyvinyl chloride taste the other day. Are British "fibres" the equivalent of American "fibers?"

Cotton, wool, hemp, papyrus, even animal fur!! Screw PETA, we're saving the world!; 1/30/12, 10:30 AM
Henry said...: Joe wrote: Ten years after which a report will be released at the horror of tiny cotton fibers finding their way into the food chain.

Lint causes global warming. I modeled it.; 1/30/12, 10:30 AM
Triangle Man said...: Meanwhile, Morgellon's disease (i.e. mysterious fibers poking through the skin) was finally determined to probably be something like delusional infestation.; 1/30/12, 10:42 AM
mikee said...: I went to read the article and it had a photo of a typical New Jersey beach, covered with trash (not microfibers in any sense of the word). Plastic bottles, trash bags, wood from old crates, oily mess, and so on - but no images of microfibers.

Sensationalist? Biased? Ridiculously inflammatory? Nonfactual? Why should I even bother reading the article if the photo accompanying the article is a blatant fraud?; 1/30/12, 11:25 AM
Rosalyn C. said...: Puts a new slant on "plastic surgery."; 1/30/12, 11:26 AM
Carnifex said...: Gotta cover up that the leading authority on global warming, the Anglican whatever in Great Britain, announced that there has been NO GLOBAL WARMING for 15 YEARS!!!

For 15 YEARS, progressives. 15. Years. Sorta like we conservatives told you. 15. Years.

AND, we are about to enter a mini-ice age, they announced. Wanna know why? Because the sun is entering a cooling cycle. LIKE WE TOLD YOU!

15 years!!

15.

Do you get it yet! It was all a scam! All of it. The hockey sticks, and Algore, and polar bears, and reindeer. ALL OF IT!

Ps. The Anglican whatever also announced that even though there has been no GW for 15 years, that didn't mean that we didn't have AGW. They just couldn't prove it. Just give them some more money to study it, and they'll call you. Next Tuesday...plus 15 years.(I am not making this part up); 1/30/12, 11:30 AM
Hagar said...: and for the BBC editors:

"Sewerage" is the term for the systems designed and constructed for the sewage to flow through.; 1/30/12, 11:39 AM
MadisonMan said...: I am not worried. There is energy within the plastic fibers. Bacteria will evolve to take advantage of that energy source.

Same with plastic bags. Wait for the chaos that ensues when a plastic-bad eating bacteria means all plastic bags break down quickly.; 1/30/12, 11:39 AM
Rusty said...: But, but ,but, fiber is good for you!; 1/30/12, 11:41 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Sheesh. Is there any mundane thing we are not supposed to worry about?; 1/30/12, 11:59 AM
edutcher said...: Not to be confused with Bill Cosby's Little Tiny Ha'rs.

Presumably, this will replace global warming as the new enviro-nut excuse.; 1/30/12, 12:29 PM
Methadras said...: Leftards will stop at nothing, NOTHING!!! to make you afraid of the very world you live in so that you can ask them for their help so they will save you from it.; 1/30/12, 1:33 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: Yeah, I've read about this. The plastic is chemically inert so it doesn't decay.

But.. it's chemically inert and doesn't seem to actually harm anything. Maybe it does and we haven't noticed.

A lot of greens seem to have an organic disgust of trash and waste. The simple fact that waste exists bugs the hell out of them whether it matters or not.; 1/30/12, 1:46 PM
Unknown said...: If the zealots succeed in de-industrializing us, what will we wear? Animals pelts--but that would annoy animal activists--so no. Nudity, and death by hypothermia, seems to be the only alternative.

(BTW if I preview a comment, it doesn't post. Weird.); 1/30/12, 3:13 PM
dbp said...: I'll worry when it becomes 2,000 per item of clothing.; 1/30/12, 5:05 PM
Methadras said...: PatCA said...

If the zealots succeed in de-industrializing us, what will we wear? Animals pelts--but that would annoy animal activists--so no. Nudity, and death by hypothermia, seems to be the only alternative.

(BTW if I preview a comment, it doesn't post. Weird.)

They want you to live in natural outcroppings, picking your food in the nude, while giving yourself a cat bath.; 1/30/12, 5:14 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: Worrying about the 1,900 tiny plastic fibers released by each item of clothing made from synthetic fabric every time it's washed.

Good thing I don't wash my clothes.; 1/30/12, 5:32 PM
Quaestor said...: Now that AGW has begun its long, slow death another fashionable worry has gained the limelight. (Didn't just have to?) This time it's a worry with benefits for the worrisome lot, you know, the fashionista kind. Look for it very soon. At your next faculty dinner party be on the lookout for the type ... you know, the bony, nervous chick with the out-of-season tan. She'll be either a lecturer in "Women's Studies" or some nondescript hanger on in the the English Department. She'll be boasting of about her organic fiber ensemble. "It's the only environmentally responsible choice, dontcha know?" will be on her lips between sips of Cuvee Beerenauslese.

Next the big house designers will roll out their Earth-friendly creations, and the runway models will add righteous indignation to their strut.

This will also benefit the poor ole cotton choppin' South, which as the ideal climate for that superior short staple fiber. Maybe Obama can make a new career on some re-invigorated plantation after he vacates 1600 Penn. Avenue next January.; 1/30/12, 5:49 PM
Quaestor said...: The Anglican whatever also announced that even though there has been no GW for 15 years, that didn't mean that we didn't have AGW.

You must mean the Climate Unit (Cor, Blimey! The nerd what thought up that terminology was likely a Doctor Who fan, eh?) at the University of East Anglia. The Anglicans have also got their fat saggy High Church arses stuck in the AGW muck, but not to the same extent.; 1/30/12, 5:59 PM
Quaestor said...: MadisonMan wrote:
I am not worried. There is energy within the plastic fibers. Bacteria will evolve to take advantage of that energy source.

Nature beatcha to it! Here and here.; 1/30/12, 6:09 PM
Quaestor said...: Barack Hussein oughta learn dem words to de plantation work song:

You gotta jump down, (Huhn!)
Spin around! (Huhn!)
Pick a bale o' Dacron.
You gotta jump down, (Huhn!)
Spin around! (Huhn!)
Pick some Nylon, too!
[whipcrack]
Agggh!; 1/30/12, 6:17 PM
Wince said...: It does give pause if science can prove that plastics have entered the food chain at the intracellular level.

The issue is worthy of study, certainly.

George Carlin had an interesting take on this years ago, seemingly in anticipation of this discovery.

(The larger context of Carlin's routine is that the the "planet" itself can never be threatened by humans.); 1/30/12, 11:09 PM