Abstract
Textile microfibres are emerging pollutants with widespread distribution in natural environments [1, 2]. They are mostly discharged into wastewater from domestic washings [3] and arrive into the environment through wastewater effluents, aerial dry or wet deposition, or through the application of contaminated sludge on agricultural soils [4]. Microfibres are commonly included by microplastic pollution studies, often accounting for 80–90% of particle counts [5], even though their synthetic nature is seldom demonstrated. Substantial concentrations have been detected in marine and freshwater ecosystems around the world [6, 7]. Ingestion of fibres by marine organisms is being increasingly reported by studies worldwide [8] and adverse health effects have been demonstrated in terrestrial, marine and freshwater invertebrates [9]. In addition, a wide variety of chemicals are used during textile production including dyes, additives and flame retardants, with this raising concerns about their role as vectors of hazardous substances into the environment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Almroth, B.M.C., Åström, L., Roslund, S., Petersson, H., Johansson, M., Persson, N.K.: Quantifying shedding of synthetic fibers from textiles; a source of microplastics released into the environment. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 25(2), 1191–1199 (2018)
Barrows, A.P.W., Cathey, S.E., Petersen, C.W.: Marine environment microfiber contamination: global patterns and the diversity of microparticle origins. Environ. Pollut. 237, 275–284 (2018)
De Falco, F., Di Pace, E., Cocca, M., Avella, M.: The contribution of washing processes of synthetic clothes to microplastic pollution. Sci. Rep. 9(1), 6633 (2019)
Carr, S.A.: Sources and dispersive modes of micro-fibres in the environment. Integr. Environ. Assess. Manage. 13(3), 466–469 (2017)
Gago, J., Carretero, O., Filgueiras, A.V., Viñas, L.: Synthetic microfibres in the marine environment: a review on their occurrence in seawater and sediments. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 127, 365–376 (2018)
Bagaev, A., Mizyuk, A., Khatmullina, L., Isachenko, I., Chubarenko, I.: Anthropogenic fibres in the Baltic Sea water column: field data, laboratory and numerical testing of their motion. Sci. Total Environ. 599, 560–571 (2017)
Sanchez-Vidal, A., Thompson, R.C., Canals, M., de Haan, W.P.: The imprint of microfibres in southern European deep seas. PLoS ONE 13(11), e0207033 (2018)
Taylor, M.L., Gwinnett, C., Robinson, L.F., Woodall, L.C.: Plastic microfibre ingestion by deep-sea organisms. Sci. Rep. 6, 33997 (2016)
Woods, M.N., Stack, M.E., Fields, D.M., Shaw, S.D., Matrai, P.A.: Microplastic fiber uptake, ingestion, and egestion rates in the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis). Mar. Pollut. Bull. 137, 638–645 (2018)
Primpke, S., Wirth, M., Lorenz, C., Gerdts, G.: Reference database design for the automated analysis of microplastic samples based on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 410(21), 5131–5141 (2018)
Dris, R., Gasperi, J., Saad, M., Mirande, C., Tassin, B.: Synthetic fibers in atmospheric fallout: a source of microplastics in the environment? Mar. Pollut. Bull. 104(1–2), 290–293 (2016)
Dris, R., Gasperi, J., Rocher, V., Tassin, B.: Synthetic and non-synthetic anthropogenic fibers in a river under the impact of Paris Megacity: sampling methodological aspects and flux estimations. Sci. Total Environ. 618, 157–164 (2018)
Textile Exchange, Preferred Fiber and Materials Market Report (PFMR). Technical report (2018)
Suaria, G., Avio, C.G., Mineo, A., Lattin, G.L., Magaldi, M.G., et al.: The Mediterranean Plastic Soup: synthetic polymers in Mediterranean surface waters. Sci. Rep. 6, 37551 (2016)
Arshad, K., Skrifvars, M., Vivod, V., Valh, J., Voncina, B.: Biodegradation of natural textile materials in soil. Tekstilec 57(2), 118–132 (2014)
Henry, B., Laitala, K., Klepp, I.G.: Microfibres from apparel and home textiles: prospects for including microplastics in environmental sustainability assessment. Sci. Total Environ. 652, 483–494 (2019)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Suaria, G., Musso, M., Achtypi, A., Bassotto, D., Aliani, S. (2020). Textile Fibres in Mediterranean Surface Waters: Abundance and Composition. In: Cocca, M., et al. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Microplastic Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. ICMPMS 2019. Springer Water. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45909-3_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45909-3_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-45908-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-45909-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)