By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, March 23, 2017
As tiny bits of plastic build up in lakes and rivers, there’s a new suggestion that everyone has been wrong about where most of this plastic pollution comes from.
The common perception is that little round “beads” of plastic from skin care products and toothpaste are to blame.
But there’s now evidence that the real source is much simpler. It’s your laundry.
A new study of microscopic plastic in the Ottawa River pinpoints tiny synthetic fibres from clothing, says the study’s main author, Jesse Vermaire, an environmental scientist at Carleton University.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/your-laundry-may-be-to-blame-for-tiny-plastic-pollutants-study-indicates