Water pollution by micro-plastics generated by washmashine

Julio Leonardo Garcia Viruez

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Microplastics (synthetic polymers <5mm) which can be found in many types, shapes and forms are an increasing problematic because of their ubiquity in high amounts, they may represent a high risk to ecosystems and biota. Microfibers of synthetic textiles, which are considered a subgroup and a main source of microplastics are detached from domestic laundry in almost every home in the developed world. Many studies have been made in this topic, however there is no standard methodology on the quantitative data. In consequence this research attempts to test one simple methodology by software counting and compare the results with the available literature. A mean of 1474 Microfibers were found in each wash for one garment, meaning 0.093 Mg in weight or 0.003% of the garment mass. This numbers were adjusted to previous estimations and converted to the population of Czech Republic in approximately 2 tons of Microplastic release into the water systems only by washing our clothes.

Keywords

Microplastic, Microfiber detachment, Polyester, Domestic laundry

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 23. 6. 2020

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedúci: Dr. Ing. Ing. Miroslav Kravka

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Environmental Sciences

Master programme / odbor:
Engineering Ecology / Nature Conservation