About this Research Topic

Background

Microplastic particles are a ubiquitous environmental pollutant of global concern. Plastic textile fibers made from polymers such as polyester and nylon regularly account for the majority of microplastics in environmental samples, including freshwater, marine, atmospheric, and terrestrial samples. However, there is growing evidence that natural (e.g., cotton, wool), and non-synthetic textile fibers dominate environmental fiber populations. Despite their greater ubiquity, environmental concern for these fibers is lacking and their environmental impacts are not yet known. Irrespective of their material, microfibers are the most tangible connection between consumers and the extensive and varied environmental footprint of fashion. However, there is still a lot that is not known about the sources, pathways, and impacts of these anthropogenic particles.

This Research Topic welcomes research that considers the environmental, technological, and social facets of natural and synthetic textile fiber pollution with the aim of identifying key drivers and potential solutions to minimizing textile fibers’ environmental footprints. The scope of the Research Topic is deliberately broad in order to foster future interdisciplinary research that has the potential to inform change at the policy and legislative levels, helping to manage and minimize the environmental impacts of these particles where needed.

Specific goals we aim to address include:

- Environmental assessments of textile fiber pollution in multiple environmental matrices (air, soil, freshwater and marine systems, and biota), including modeling and forecasting/hindcasting studies
- Ecotoxicological research that considers the impacts of textile fibers (natural, synthetic, semi-synthetic) and their leachates on aquatic and terrestrial organisms along the trophic chain
- Monitoring of textile fiber release from different steps of the manufacturing process
-The contribution of non-apparel textiles to microfibers in the environment and the home
- Mechanistic studies that detail the influence of fiber type and environmental conditions on fiber fate, including environmentally representative assessments of textile fiber degradation
- Methodological advancements in the sampling, characterization, and identification of all textile fiber types in different environments
- Evaluations of stakeholder perceptions of textile fiber pollution, and their efforts to address it
- Frameworks and simulations linking different processes of the textile industry and stakeholder needs to reduce fiber pollution
- Wardrobe and laundry surveys to determine how representative fiber shedding studies are of real-world situations
- Critical evaluations of relevant policy and legislation

Only robust spatiotemporal records of contemporary fiber prevalence will be considered. Research on understudied topics, such as the prevalence and persistence of natural and regenerated cellulosic fibers is encouraged.

This Research Topic will accept the following article types: original research, reviews, perspectives, brief research reports, policy and practice reviews, policy briefs, and methods.

Keywords: textile, microfibres, fibers, fibres, fashion industry, textiles, pollution, microplastic, fate, transport, ecotoxicology, toxicology, environmental assessment, modelling, leachate, monitoring, degradation, characterization, identification, modeling

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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