In recent weeks, a spill of polluting material into the Atlantic Ocean, north of Portugal, caused an environmental alert on the northern coasts of Spain. The polluting substances that ended up in the sea after an incident with the merchant ship Toconao, known as pellets, are microplastics. The type of toxic substances that the ship spread are tiny plastic pellets that are used to make various plastic products, such as bags or containers.
The incident caused a political storm last week due to the memory of the Prestige disaster on the same Galician coast more than 20 years ago. After a few days, the matter is no longer front page news. Even so, this week the alert level is maintained and there are still cleaning devices deployed on the coasts of Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. But the arrival of pellets to the beaches has stabilized downwards.
It is still early to take stock of the volume of waste that was dumped into the sea. The available information indicates that the ship lost six containers, although only one of them contained pellets. In total, 26,250 kilos of small plastic balls were lost to the water, of which only a very small part made landfall on the sandy beaches. It is undoubtedly an environmental disaster, but it is worth putting it in perspective. Accidents like the Toconao accident are by no means the main cause of toxic garbage in the sea.
Most of the microplastics that pollute our waters come from our homes. So there is no need to volunteer to remove plastics from beaches to contribute to the conservation of the environment. There is something much more effective we can do every day. Or rather: stop doing.
Various research carried out in recent years concludes that washing clothes releases thousands of microplastics into the environment. The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of the Government of Spain itself indicated in a statement in September 2018 that up to a third of these toxic substances in the oceans come from washing clothes. The data comes from a study by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (an international organization with more than 120,000 members in 140 countries.
Previous research from the University of Plymouth found that a single load of laundry can release several million microfibres. These microplastics travel from clothing to pipes and from there to the earth’s soil. Even the most advanced wastewater treatment plants do not completely remove these microplastics, as sewage sludge is often used as fertilizer, allowing the microfibers to persist in the environment. So a large part of this waste surpasses the purification processes and ends up not only in the marine environment, but also in other natural spaces (mountains, lakes, rivers) and even in the stomachs of animals and human beings. We end up accidentally ingesting them in one way or another.
Not all fabrics are equally harmful. Fewer microfibers are shed from garments made from natural fibers, such as cotton and wool. Acrylic and polyester fabrics release many more toxic substances into the environment.
Reducing the volume of microplastics we throw into nature is a reasonably feasible goal. It is required, first of all, to be informed about what we do wrong; and secondly, raise awareness to do better, without this having to substantially affect our habits and quality of life.
Some countries have already taken steps on their own to solve the problem. In February 2020, France approved a regulation that requires washing machine manufacturers to equip their appliances with microplastic filters. The law will come into force in less than a year, on January 1, 2025. This means that companies will have to innovate in the production of their devices, which implies an extra cost that will most likely affect consumers. This is the reason why proposals similar to the French one have failed in other parts of the world. The governor of California, for example, vetoed such a bill in 2023.
There are some other products and devices designed specifically to capture microfibers during washing: specific laundry bags to absorb microfibers (clothes are placed in these bags and placed in the washing machine) and other external filters capable of capturing up to 90% of microfibers. the microfibers that are generated during a washing cycle. They are alternative solutions in the short or medium term. The most effective thing, however, would be to work with a broad vision to make clothing with textile materials that do not release microfibers. But to achieve this, regulations will have to be imposed on manufacturers, who will likely oppose them drastically.
