Environmental Crisis: Micro Plastic Endangers Marine Ecology

 

Microplastics is a major carrier of pollution. The small volume of microplastics means higher specific surface area (specific surface area refers to the surface area per unit mass of porous solid material). The larger the specific surface area, the stronger the ability to adsorb pollutants.

There are a lot of persistent organic pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and bisphenol A (BPA) in the environment (these organic pollutants are often hydrophobic, that is, they are not easy to dissolve in water and are not easy to be diluted by water). Once the micro plastics meet with these pollutants, they will gather to form an organic pollution sphere. Microplastics act as mounts of pollutants, both of which can roam around the environment.

The wandering microplastics are easy to be eaten by mussels, zooplankton and other low-end food chain organisms. They can not be digested and can only exist in the stomach, occupying space, leading to diseases and even death of animals; If the micro plastic with organic pollutants is eaten, the damage to these plankton is even worse. The pollutants are released under the action of enzymes in the organism, which aggravates the disease. Mussels, zooplankton and other organisms at the bottom of the food chain will be eaten by the upper layer animals. Micro plastics, even micro plastics and organic pollutants enter the upper layer of the animal body. Only 1% of the harmful substances in the bottom animal body, but 20% in the upper layer, which will make a large number of micro plastic eating organisms sick or dead.

 

Compared with the "white pollution" plastics, the harm of microplastics is reflected in the small particle diameter, which is the reason why compared with the general non degradable plastics, the micro plastics do more harm to the environment.

 

Types of microplastics: polyethylene, acrylic acid, nylon, polypropylene, polyformaldehyde, polyester, polystyrene, polyvinyl alcohol.

 

Textile, one of the important sources of microplastics

 

Centre for ecological impact research on coastal cities, University of Sydney More microplastics have been found on the coast of densely populated areas and identified as an important source of waste water from household washing machines.

They point out that every time a garment is washed, more than 1900 fibers are washed out, and these fibers look exactly like tiny plastic fragments found in coastal areas. They say the problem is likely to intensify in the future.

Wipes: polyester, polyethylene, styrene, etc., wipes will release plastic fibers. Synthetic clothing: acrylic plastic, polyester, polyamide, spandex fiber, etc. each time you wash clothes, you will release a large number of plastic fibers that are difficult to filter out after entering water (even mixed into tap water). After drying, the fiber will disperse into the air and become respirable dust.

Various technologies have been developed to cope with them

In the project of "high quality recycling of waste textiles by chemical method", the eco cycletm recycling system with polyester chemical recycling technology as the core is adopted to chemically treat the polyester fiber in the waste clothes, completely remove the color and dye, restore the polyester raw material, and regenerate the new polyester fiber, which can be used for clothing manufacturing. With a number of enterprises, recycling agencies to carry out recycling cooperation. Recycled fabrics are used in the world's high-end clothing brands.

A Japanese company, committed to the chemical recycling of polyester fiber in clothing and reuse as a raw material for polyester fiber. In this chemical recycling technology, BHET (polyester monomer) is prepared by depolymerization of polyester in ethylene glycol solution, and then BHET is purified and impurities are removed. Then the purified BHET was further polymerized to obtain polyester resin.

All brands join in the support

Nike showed its achievements in reducing plastic pollution and improving the recycling rate of plastic products in recent years; Nike releases new NBA League Jersey. The Jersey's raw materials include recycled polyester. The recycled polyester used in each Jersey comes from about 20 recycled plastic bottles.

In recent years, adidas has cooperated with parley for the oceans, a marine environmental protection agency, to recycle plastic waste collected from the ocean to produce environmental friendly materials and make different shoes.

H & M supports sustainable development by launching a series of environmental conscious actions made of organic cotton, recycled polyester fiber and Tencel fiber,

With the deterioration of the earth's natural environment, fashion industry, as the main consumer of natural resources, is also the main source of pollution. The natural environment and the whole industry complement each other. More and more clothing brands will start from the environmental protection fabrics, and enhance the brand's environmental protection concept by reducing pollution and improving process.