[theguardian.com] "And plastic clothing can be uniquely toxic, even while it is still in use or after it has been recycled. A 2016 study by the University of California at Santa Barbara found that, on average, polyester fleece jackets release 1.7 grams of plastic microfibres each time they go into the wash. Older jackets shed more and almost half the barely visible fibres made it through water-treatment plants into rivers and seas. Microbeads of the sort used in cosmetics were banned in the UK last year, but microfibres may be just as destructive – and prevalent. A Plymouth University study estimated in 2016 that a single six-kilo load of synthetic laundry could release 700,000 tiny bits of fibre. Their toxic effects have been observed concentrating as they pass up the food chain, devastating marine life and, in an unappetising case of unwanted recycling, ending up on our dinner plates."
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