New calls for EU to act on fast fashion and health

LONDON – A new report claims there is a clear relationship between high exposure to microplastic fibres and the disease severity of two types of bowel diseases. A study team tracked hundreds of papers published on the link between microplastic pollution and health. It concluded that exposure to these 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.

The report – Do clothes make us sick? Fashion, Fibres and Human Health – was published by the Plastic Soup Foundation. The NGO is now calling on the EU to bring forward stricter regulations on the fast fashion industry.

Fast fashion is “a danger to the environment and our health,” said Maria Westerbos, director of Plastic Soup Foundation, which is calling on the fashion industry to reduce microplastic fibres in clothing by 50 per cent in five years.

There has been a huge proliferation of studies into the impact of microplastics on human health. Scientific evidence on the impact of micro- and nanoplastics (mnps) on health is accumulating rapidly, with nearly 400 publications in 2021 and 2022 on ‘microplastic’ and ‘health’.

Prof Dr Barbro Melgert, one of the report’s referees, warns that high exposure to inhalable synthetic fibres may make it more difficult for the lungs to recover from damage.

Dr Melgert’s adds that this has also “inhibited” the development of young lung cells in children.

A 2021 study found that children inhale twice as many plastic fibres as adults and are most likely to be at risk from adverse effects to their systems developing.

Microplastic fibres can be transported through the atmosphere to some of the remotest parts of the world. This is a major concern as the cause of disease attributed to air pollution is now estimated to be on par with other major global health risks, such as unhealthy diets and tobacco smoking.

Furthermore, 99 per cent of the world’s population currently inhales air with pollution levels, which includes plastic particles, that exceed World Health Organization limits.

While there have been over 400 publications on ‘microplastic’ and ‘health’ in the past two years, Plastic Soup Foundation is calling on the European Commission to take drastic steps in addressing this issue.

The organisation launched the Plastic Fashion campaign on November 1, 2022, which calls on the fashion industry to produce products that shed 50 per cent less plastic fibres in five years.

Maria Westerbos, founder at Plastic Soup Foundation, said: “This report must be met with serious change in the fashion industry, as well as government action.

“Since the first edition of the Plastic Health Summit in 2019, the significance of microplastics and health gained traction. We now know that microplastic fibres can cause potentially serious impacts to our health.

“Plastic Soup Foundation welcomes the European Commission’s ambition to make the textile industry significantly more sustainable by 2030. We now want to see our seven recommendations considered by the Commission in their proposal for legislation and for the fashion industry to action our five recommendations.”