Plastic Soup Foundation
  • The issue
      • Plastic Soup
      • What is plastic?
      • Plastic in the environment
      • Harm to animals
      • Health effects
      • Regulations
      • Bogus solutions
      • Responsibilities
      • Sustainable development
      • Facts & Figures
  • What we do
      • Health
      • Microplastics
      • Education
      • Plastic Waste
  • How you can help
      • Consumer
      • Business
      • Community
      • Kids
      • At school
  • Solutions
  • News
  • Donate
  • NL
  • EN
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
You are here: Andere categorie plastic fashion 74% OF DUTCH PEOPLE RESENT THE POOR QUALITY OF FAST-FASHION CLOTHING

74% OF DUTCH PEOPLE RESENT THE POOR QUALITY OF FAST-FASHION CLOTHING

INCREASING NUMBER OF SCIENTIFIC STUDIES PROVE THAT SYNTHETIC FIBRES CAUSE CHRONIC LUNG INFECTIONS AND INTESTINAL DISEASES, AMONG OTHER THINGS

1 November 2022

Synthetic fibres are the largest source of microplastics in the oceans. According to 2017 research, as many as 35% of all marine microplastics come from synthetic textiles. And that will only increase. Indeed, global production of clothing has doubled in the past 20 years. And currently, nearly 70% of all clothing is already made from some form of plastic, such as polyester, nylon, acrylic or polyamide.

Plastic Soup Foundation is concerned about this increase, pointing out not only its impact on the environment, but also on human health. For example, more than one-third of indoor dust consists of microplastics derived from textiles. Therefore, the organization is launching the Plastic Fashion campaign on November 1.

This campaign aims to have the clothing industry produce better quality clothing that loses 50% less plastic fibres in 5 years.

Maria Westerbos, director of Plastic Soup Foundation: ‘It should be forbidden to market clothes that wear out so quickly and lose so much fibre that after five washes they look a lot like the emperor’s new clothes. It is time to see fast fashion for what it is: a revenue model for the oil and clothing industry and a danger to the environment and our health.’

Dutch annoyed by fast fashion

A poll commissioned by Plastic Soup Foundation among more than 1,300 respondents shows that nearly half of them are already aware of scientists’ concerns about inhaling plastic clothing fibres and their accumulation in the lungs. But only one in three know that the risks to small children are even greater. Because little ones crawl on the ground and put everything in their mouths, they inhale twice as many plastic fibres as adults and swallow up to 12 times as many.

The poll above also shows that 74 percent of Dutch people are angered by the poor quality of fast-fashion clothing. A large majority, 62%, think the industry should be required by politicians to produce clothes that last a long time and lose as little plastic microfibre as possible. Only 6% of the Dutch think that the clothing industry should not have to consider the environment or human health.

What do we already know about health risks?

The fact that we literally breathe in our own clothes raises the question of what effect synthetic fibres have on our lungs. That’s why Plastic Soup Foundation is also publishing the report Do Clothes make us sick? Fashion, Fibres and Human Health.

This report provides an overview of all the effects of plastic microfibres on various organs and the immune system scientifically established to date. In 2021 and 2022 alone, over 400 publications have been published on the health effects of microplastics.

For example, once inhaled, synthetic fibres can cause chronic inflammation in the lungs, which is known to be a major cause of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, asthma and diabetes. There is also a clear link between high exposure to nylon fibres and two types of irritable bowel diseases (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis). 

One of the report’s referees is Prof. Dr. Barbro Melgert, who is researching the health effects of microplastics on human lungs at the University of Groningen. Melgert: “It is worrying that especially children, because their lungs are still developing, inhale twice as many plastic fibres as adults. In fact, our research has shown that young lung cells are inhibited in their development by nylon fibres, for example.’

By the way, it is no longer only environmental organizations that are sounding the alarm about the dangers of micro and nanoplastics. The World Health Organization has also been researching their effects on the human body since 2019.

Read the summary of the report.

The helm of the apparel industry and consumers must change

In March of this year, the European Commission expressed its ambition to make the textile industry significantly more sustainable by 2030. The Commission announced the taking measures to prevent and reduce the loss of synthetic fibres by the end of 2022.

With this strategy for sustainable and circular textiles, the EU aims, among other things, to ensure that consumers benefit from high-quality and affordable textiles for longer. The EU Sustainable and Circular Textiles Strategy states that fast fashion needs to get out of fashion, re-use and repair services need to be established, and producers need to take responsibility for the entire value chain of their products, even once they become waste.

Plastic Soup Foundation hopes that it will not stop at nice words, but that the EU will move to strict regulations. The new campaign addresses not only the fashion industry but also consumers. Since today, a guide is online full of advice for more environmentally friendly shopping, washing tips to reduce fibre loss and suggestions to address the fast fashion industry themselves.

Search

Categories

  • Pressreleases (2)
  • Microplastics in cosmetics (1)
  • Junior (1)
  • No category (1)
  • News (532)
  • What can you do? (13)
  • Health Files (38)
  • Clean rivers (24)
  • Plastic soupermarket (2)
  • Trash hunters (49)
  • What is plastic soup? (12)
  • What to do with plastic waste? (12)
  • Types of plastic (3)
  • Press releases (16)
  • Beat the microbead (16)
  • Solutions (11)
  • Don't use balloons (3)
  • Gezondheidseffecten (56)
  • Animal cruelty (13)
  • sponsoring campaign (1)
  • Microbeads (27)
  • Sponsor actions (3)
  • Ocean Clean Wash (12)
  • About us (1)
  • Plastic Urban Mining (4)
  • Blogs (16)
  • My little plastic footprint (5)
  • Plastic Soup Awards (3)
  • Synthetic fibers (19)
  • Political plume (3)
  • actions frontpage (1)
  • nurdles (5)

Subscribe to our newsletter

and stay informed about our activities!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Donate now and contribute

I'll donate € 5I'll donate € 10I'll donate € 15Other amount

More news

Plastic rocks on an isolated island

The sombre message of stones made of plastic found on an uninhabited island far from the Brazilian coast.

Read more

EU ban on microplastics in cosmetics: too slow and too limited

Cosmetics companies selling personal care products without microplastics are calling for the swift introduction of a total ban in an open letter.

Read more

Sungai Watch prevents Bali’s plastic waste from reaching the ocean

In Bali, more and more rivers are being cleaned from plastic waste every day. What do Dutch travel suitcases made from recycled ocean plastic have to do with that?

Read more

Chemicals plastic cause overweight

Scientists suspect that fat formation in human bodies is stimulated by plastic.

Read more

About us

  • Frontrunners
  • Mission & Vision
  • Our People
  • Working with Us
  • Annual Reports
  • Inquiries Press
  • Newsletter

Our approach

  • Plastic Soup Angels
  • Funds & Partners
  • Ambassadors
  • Plastic Soup Awards
  • Plastic Soup Atlas
  • Facts & Figures
DONATE
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • LinkedIn

  • YouTube

  • Contact

 

© Copyright - Plastic Soup Foundation
  • Contact
  • Privacy policy
  • GDPR Consent Settings
5 tips for a plastic-free HalloweenverpakkingsbelastingCoca-Cola’s ‘more sustainable’ packaging does not yet even exist
Scroll to top

GDPR settings

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

x
Settings

Your privacy and this website...

This website uses some cookies which are placed on your device. Your web browser stores these cookies when you visit our Website: www.plasticsoupfoundation.org. These cookies will be retrieved when you visit or use our Website again. This allows us to recognise you as a previous visitor/user.

Functional technology enables a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in. No personalised information is collected.

See details

This consent is used to track visitors across websites. The intention is to display ads that are relevant and engaging for the individual user and thereby more valuable for publishers and third party advertisers.

See details

This consent helps website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting.

See details
Forget my settings Settings have been forgotten