United States Rep. Mike Levin, who represents California’s 49th district, introduced a bill to combat microfiber pollution last month.
The Fighting Fibers Act, introduced to the House July 24, would call on the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy to require new washing machines to be equipped with microfiber filtration systems.
Currently, there is no such requirement. Microfibers can pollute water when the fibers are washed off clothing during laundry loads and whisked away with the wastewater.
“Microfibers pose a serious threat to our waterways, oceans, and food supply and can ultimately end up in our bodies leading to serious health complications. Preventing them from entering our ecosystems is important to health and safety,” Levin said in a release.
A similar piece of legislation was introduced on the Senate side by Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon. Merkley introduced the Fighting Fibers Act first in 2024, but it saw no progress during the legislative session.
“When it comes to plastics, most of us have been taught the three Rs: reduce, reuse, and recycle. The sinister reality is the three Bs: buried, burned, and borne out to sea, as dangerous chemicals poison our soil, air, and water,” Merkley said in a statement.
“Microplastic pollution harms human health and our environment, and the Fighting Fibers Act is a simple fix to help consumers address the pollution from their clothes that is driving our global plastics crisis.”
An average American household is estimated to release 533 million plastic fibers from laundry into wastewater every year, according to a Washington State University report.
According to Anja Brandon, the director of plastic policy at the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit focused on ocean preservation and education, microfibers are the most common type of microplastics polluting the ocean.
Brandon said the issue requires immediate large-scale action and that the bicameral legislation is a common-sense approach to the problem.
“Microfibers are the most common type of microplastic pollution in our ocean and environment and have made their way everywhere from our drinking water to our blood streams. The scale and urgency of this crisis demand immediate action, and adding microfiber filters to washing machines is a common-sense and cost-effective solution available today to address this crisis,” she said.
Microfibers can harm wildlife when organisms ingest the fibers. Often, microfibers also contain toxic chemicals that were added to the clothing during the manufacturing process, harming wildlife through toxins and blockages.
“This bill provides a simple, targeted solution that offsets the environmental and health impacts of microfibers by stopping them in laundry cycles before they can enter our waters and bodies. I thank Sen. Merkley for his partnership on this bill, and I look forward to advancing it through the legislative process,” Levin said.
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