CelloMom On Cars
The skin of your laundry pods dissolve in the washing machine, right?
They dissolve into microplastic.
And wastewater treatment systems have no way to filter that out so the microplastics go straight into streams and the ocean.
Just pour your laundry soap out of a box or bottle.
CelloMom On Cars
"In order for #PVA to #biodegrade, special PVA-adapted microbes need to be added at high levels and for long durations. Currently, most water treatment facilities do not sufficiently treat PVA in water, and therefore poses a series of environmental and safety concerns. "
Also:
"the production of PVA film involves heavy environmental and safety burdens in carcinogenic toxins, ozone depletion, acidification, eutrophication, and fossil fuel depletion."
https://dirtylabs.com/blogs/the-dirt/ask-dr-pete-are-laundry-pods-and-sheets-really-sustainable
CelloMom On Cars
I will now stop using laundry pods.
Even while acknowledging that their contribution to microplastics is small.
The major contributors to microplastics in the oceans:
Synthetic textiles
(They make me sweat unpleasantly, so I stay away from those, too),
Car tires
(why I bike: skinny tires, a lot less wear!)
City dust
(Guessing that includes the two above, plus house paint and such).
From:
https://www.statista.com/chart/17957/where-the-oceans-microplastics-come-from/
CelloMom On Cars
Okay, this post kind of fractalled into multiple conversation threads, thank you to everyone who participated! I learned a lot.
First, PVA, the skin of laundry pods, is a plastic. Yes, it dissolves in water (under selected conditions). But it doesn't go away. On this planet, there is no "away":
"Dissolve does not mean disappear. Salt is technically soluble in water, but if you pour a bunch of salt in a glass of water, you very much taste it. It’s still there."
https://plasticoceans.org/pva-detergent-pods-gone-but-not-forgotten/
CelloMom On Cars
Research from the Fraunhofer Institut shows that in Germany, tire wear is the single largest source of microplastics, and it's much larger than the next source which is -- wait for it -- abrasion of plastic from road surfaces.
Sounds like Germans like to burn rubber (except that car tires are no longer ctual rubber but a composite containing lots of plastic).
https://www.celticwater.co.uk/bloghow-does-plastic-get-into-the-ocean-plastic-pollution-from-roads/
Aral Balkan
@CelloMomOnCars Additional alt text from the graphic:
Microplastics in Germany - Top 10 sources
(per person per year)
~1.230g
Abrasion of vehicle tyres (88% from car tyres)
~230g
Abrasion of plastics in road surfaces
~180 g
Plastic pellets (nurdles)
~165g
Released from waste disposal
~130 g
Abrasion of asphalt sport pitches and artificial grass
~120g
Released from
Construction sites
~110g
Abrasion of shoe soles
~100 g
Abrasion of
Plastic packaging
~90g
Abrasion of… (1/2)
Aral Balkan
road paint markings
~80 g
Abrasion of plastic textiles (fleeces etc) during washing
Bisher wurden über 70 Quellen von primärem Mikroplastik identifiziert. Zusätzlich entsteht sekundäres Mikroplastik durch Verwitterung und Fragmentierung von Makroplastik in der Umwelt. (2/2)
Aral Balkan
@CelloMomOnCars No worries. On an iPhone, at least, you can just press and hold on an image to select all the text on it so it’s not difficult :)
CelloMom On Cars
Thank you for doing the real alt text work!
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