How Your Polar Fleece is Polluting the Ocean

Our oceans are, sadly, teeming with plastic but in a form far smaller than the bags and bottles seen too often as beach detritus. An analysis in Environmental Science and Technology reveals that millions of millions of plastic bits less than a millimeter are polluting the ocean. The source of all this micro plastic is polyester and acrylic, the kinds of plastics most often used in clothes and in polar fleece.

Scientists found that similar levels of plastic particles were found on shorelines and in the discharge from sewage treatment plants — meaning that most of the micro plastic bits are coming from our washing machines. Fleece shreds the most: Plastic-based garments (fleece from the eco-friendly company Patagonia is made from “recycled soda-pop bottles”) lose more than 1,900 fibers per wash, all of which goes into the ocean water, and thence into the cells of sea life. This bioaccumulation isn’t good for any of us:

Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, which focuses on plastics in the marine system, says he’s been concerned about microplastics from all sources, including those body scrub microbeads that are as ubiquitous as the multi-blade holiday Remington razor this time of year. What worries Moore most is where those microparticles may ultimately end up.

“Polyester is heavier than water and pollutes bottom sediments where most marine life lives,” he says. Once in the marine system, they get taken up by filter feeders like clams, mussels, and small fish like anchovies, sardines, etc., which are then eaten by larger fish.

That concerns [study author Mark] Browne [of University College Dubling] too. His work with shellfish has shown that once ingested by animals, microplastic can be taken up and stored by tissues and cells. This bioaccumulation of pollutants can have negative consequences for wildlife and humans.

A solution is to install  better filters on washing machines or the plants that treat the waste water. Courtney Arthur, research coordinator with NOAA Marine Debris Program, also notes that “simply wearing synthetic garments can also cause shedding,” so another solution is to forego fleece for more sustainable fibers, such as cotton and wool. It would also be well for all of us to acquire fewer clothes, period:

According to Institute for Local Reliance researcher Stacy Mitchell, “In the mid-1990s, the average American bought 28 items of clothing a year. Today, we buy 59 items.”

It won’t be so easy to wear and wash less fleece in my own household. Like many individuals on the autism spectrum, my son Charlie has numerous sensory sensitivities. He doesn’t have a single wool sweater but does have fleece to wear outside in the cold and the softness appeals to him. He has also long used a big fleece blanket to soothe and calm himself.

But on the other hand, Charlie loves the ocean and swimming in it. I think we can try to do our part to prevent the ocean from being seeded with even more millions of micro plastic bits.