I went to the Antarctic to understand and prevent microfiber pollution. At one point, I was standing on the ice surrounded by penguins and glacial walls 25 stories high, gin lassy-eyed with wonder, I was supposed to be collecting samples, but I was having a moment.
As a National Geographic Explorer, expedition scientist, founder of Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean and lover of the ocean, being in beautiful places conducting research or exploring is something I get to do with some frequency. But, this was all of my loves and childhood and professional dreams coming true at once – big ice and penguins (loves), Antarctica (childhood dream) and data that can lead to solutions to protect this wild and wondrous place (professional dream).
I was immobilized by awe thanks to the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic Society partnership that connects National Geographic Explorers and teams like mine with small ship expeditions to many of the world’s most wild and remote places. And this was not the only time I’ve experienced a feeling of astonishment in nature. The same thing happened in Hawaii surrounded by spinner dolphins and the most intense turquoise waters. Also, in Arctic Svalbard with pack ice, polar bears and walruses, and most recently, with puffins, mountains and waterfalls in the sub-Arctic regions of Norway’s fjords, the Shetland Islands, Faroe Islands and Iceland.
My team’s goal in all of these places: collect samples of the surface water and air to understand microplastic and manmade microfiber pollution – where it is and what the “it” precisely is, so that it can be prevented.
A growing body of evidence indicates that microplastics, microfibers, in particular, pose a real threat to creatures throughout the marine food web. Further research has established the presence of microplastics throughout the human body via ingestion and inhalation, with studies published this year indicating potential associations between the presence of microplastics and severe illness (R. Marfella et al. 2024; Hu et al. 2024; Pinto-Rodrigues, Science News March 23, 2023).
There is a growing urgency to address microplastic and microfiber pollution. Our expedition data are already pointing to actionable information while indicating solutions and opportunities for innovation.
Science for Solutions
Our team at Rozalia Project had been working on the visible side of microplastic pollution since 2010. By definition, microplastic is from one micrometer (1/1000 of a millimeter) which is around 1/100th the diameter of a human hair and invisible to the naked eye, up to 5mm, or half the width of your pinkie fingernail. We first learned about microfiber pollution in 2014. It screamed at us as the next big problem for our ocean. I mean big figuratively since microfiber pollution is made when tiny, too-small-for-the-eye-to-see fibers break off of textiles – clothing, carpets, cleaning cloths, fishing gear, etc. and end up in the environment.
At the time we learned about it, the primary source of this pollution was thought to be clothing – caused by washing machines.
With little environmental data available at the time, we brought together a team of researchers and volunteers to sample and analyze the length of the Hudson River for microparticle pollution. The results were unexpected; there was no significant relationship between fiber concentration in the surface water and population density (Miller et. al., 2017).
This made us ask: Could it also be from dryers?
From fibers falling out of the sky?
From simply wearing our clothing?
Are there additional significant sources and causes?
We went back to the Hudson River a second time to collect air, soil and water-column samples along with surface water samples. The results reaffirmed that microparticles, mostly microfiber both plastic and non-plastic, are distributed throughout our air, water and soil with or without nearby populations. Our next questions: Has microfiber reached the most remote parts of our world? Can we gather data to inspire action and innovation to solve this problem? And, can we involve people from pole to pole in collecting that data.
In collaboration with National Geographic Explorer, Dr. Claire Gwinnett, a forensic fiber expert at Staffordshire University in the UK, we proved that a new, cheaper and more accessible way of microplastic analysis was possible (Gwinnett and Miller, 2021). Our work executing first-of-their-kind expeditions and pioneering new methods of microplastic/microfiber research inspired by forensic science paved the way toward launching an ambitious, solutions-oriented, community-driven program.
CSI for the Ocean
CSI for the Ocean is a global, citizen science microplastic mapping and monitoring program. It is a hybrid science, awareness-raising, and solution-development program that addresses microplastic and microfiber pollution by gathering the data we need to advance large-scale policy and innovation to tackle the roots of the problem. We call it CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) as a nod to the fact that the methods we use were inspired by forensic science and that ocean pollution, or any pollution, is a crime both literal and figurative. The program is supported, in part, by the National Geographic Society along with Lindblad Expeditions and Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean with technical support from the forensic departments of Staffordshire and Northumbria Universities, both in the UK.
In advancing this program, I’ve been to Hawaii, the Arctic, subarctic, and Southern Ocean to collect data in some of the most remote and seemingly pristine places in the world. And there is microplastic pollution, predominantly microfiber pollution, in all of these regions.
Data from our expeditions show the relationship between populations, currents and remote places. Specifically, our findings from the expedition with Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic to Arctic Svalbard and the west coast of Norway revealed surface water micro-pollution hotspots in Svalbard. With a nearly non-existent human population, this didn’t make sense until we overlaid the currents and realized that everyone on the east coast of the USA and the British Isles could be contributing plastic pollution that ends up with the polar bears and walruses of Svalbard (Miller, StoryMap, 2024).
Characteristics of the fibers we are finding through CSI for the Ocean are primarily consistent with fibers that make up clothing textiles. In the South Orkney Islands, a place that hardly any ships visit, there was microfiber in the water next to an Adélie penguin colony (Miller, StoryMap, 2024). For places with no people, prevention has to start thousands of miles away.
Human-Scale Solutions for You
Though it seems overwhelming, microfiber pollution is a problem that has as many ready-to-deploy solutions for individuals and families as it does opportunities for teams and corporations to engage in and support innovation.
Let’s start with the easiest, cost-free solutions right in your own laundry room: wash less often, spot clean, do ¾ to full loads and use cold water settings and air dry when possible (these also reduce water and energy use).
Next-level solutions include: wearing low-shed clothing on the outside while engaging in outdoor activities, when possible, choosing better quality clothing that will last longer and thrift! New clothes shed a lot more during their first few washes, something that is not an issue with pre-owned clothes.
For more information about preventing microfiber pollution at home, check out How To Reduce Microfiber Pollution From Your Laundry on Earth911, which explains the Cora Ball – a microfiber preventing laundry ball that was invented by our team. Learn more about how we used biomimicry (which is taking design inspiration directly from nature) to protect our ocean and our clothes on our Ocean Protectors blog.
Solutions must also come from industries and policies upstream of consumers. Opportunities for innovation include creating more resilient textiles so they break less easily and creating bio-derived and bio-benign textiles so what does get lost to the environment is less harmful. Manufacturing washing machines and dryers with built-in filters, creating settings that reduce shedding and designing machines that wash more gently will also make a significant impact.
On the policy side, enacting policies for limiting washing machine and dryer emissions, adopting shedability testing standards and labeling laws that supply consumers with the information they need to make informed decisions, will also go a long way in preventing this problem and protecting our precious public waterways.
Voices and actions for change
We encourage everyone to try to employ the strategies above. We challenge engineers and problem solvers to address the opportunities for innovation and everyone to bring attention to the problem of microfiber pollution, from our clothing, in particular, and take action that is consistent with that messaging.
One of my favorite concepts is that “lots of littles make a big.” Lots of tiny, little microscopic bits of plastic and fiber are making a big problem for the ocean, its creatures and more and more, for humans ourselves. However, lots of little efforts and solutions happening at the same time can make a big impact in protecting our one, big, shared ocean and all who rely on her – which is all of us.
My team’s expeditions are not done and CSI for the Ocean is just getting revved up! Follow me at @rachaelzoemiller (primarily on Instagram) to learn through exploration and the love of being in, on, and near the water and @rozaliaproject, @thecoraball, @lindbladexp and @insidenatgeo for information, inspiration, stories and action from around the planet!
About the Author
Rachael Zoe Miller is a National Geographic Explorer, expedition scientist and inventor working to protect the ocean. She is the Founder of Rozalia Project for a Clean Ocean, a nonprofit addressing marine debris through cleanup, education, innovation and solutions-based research, whose research vessel is based in coastal Maine. She is co-inventor of the Cora Ball, a microfiber-preventing laundry ball, published several marine-debris-focused papers in peer-reviewed journals and presents to audiences worldwide.
