Tell Congress: Mandate Filters – Stop the Flow of Microfibers Polluting the Earth

At last good news! The Fighting Fibers Act has been introduced in Washington requiring all new washing machines have built-in microfiber filters by 2030.  With this implementation, emissions can be reduced up to 90%, providing a way to wash our clothes without adding to microplastic pollution.

Of the 100 billion garments manufactured every year, 69% are made from oil and, when washed, shed plastic microfibers. Globally, 500,000 tons of microfibers are released into oceans every year through domestic clothes washing machines­ – 35% of primary microplastics, the biggest single source.

In 2016, 92% of the “microplastics” found in the Arctic were actually microfibers, and of those, 73% were polyester, the findings pointing to widespread distribution through domestic wastewater.

Microfibers from clothing are coated with toxic chemicals, but they’re also vectors for free floating toxic chemicals in the ocean that attach to them. These toxins are associated with increased risk of cancer-causing inflammation, neurodegenerative diseases, and reproductive disorders. 

Microfibers have made their way through water, air and soil causing harm to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and their organisms. Microfibers are found in our intestines, hearts, lungs, brains, blood vessels, umbilical cords, and babies.  

Production of polyester is projected to exceed 92 million tons in the next 10 years – an increase of 47%.  The ubiquity and the staggering scale of this microfiber pollution (found in 83% of drinking water worldwide) demands we take action. Send a letter to your legislators asking them to support The Fighting Fibers Act.  Ask them to take this urgently needed step forward for a safer and healthier future.

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