Laboratory shedding of commercial personal-care, household, industrial, and healthcare wipes, plus pilot-plant nonwovens.
Source details
Soojin Kwon, Marielis C. Zambrano, Richard A. Venditti, Ryen Frazier, Franklin Zambrano, Ronalds W. Gonzalez, Joel J. Pawlak. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 2022.
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-20053-z
Findings
Commercial nonwovens shed fibers under mechanical water and air tests. Results combine natural/regenerated cellulose and synthetic fibers and must not be called confirmed plastic-particle counts.
Scroll horizontally for methods and measurement limits.
| Reported result | Conditions | Size context | Original locator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 44 ± 3 mg of retained material/g of wipe | Personal-care specimen P1; 16 min metal-ball agitation in 150 mL deionized water at 22 °C; cut, unhemmed specimen | Gravimetry has no individual-particle size window; fiber analyzer separate | PDF p. 8 (printed 60591), Table 4; p. 4 test protocol |
| 584,000 total microfibers/g of wipe | Personal-care specimen P2; same water-agitation test; FQA count, not plastic-specific spectroscopy | P2 observed length 0.05-6.15 mm; analyzer measured 0.05-10 mm | PDF p. 8 (printed 60591), Table 4; p. 5 FQA methods |
Methods and scope
Water tests used cut, unhemmed specimens, deionized water, metal-ball agitation in a Launder Ometer, gravimetric collection, and fiber-quality analysis. Bulk materials were characterized with thermal analysis, microscopy, and FTIR. Water procedure blanks and empty air-chamber controls were included. Waterborne fiber-quality analysis was not replicated, unlike gravimetry.
What this source can support
Supports material and web-structure effects on total microfiber shedding under a sewage-oriented laboratory challenge. Does not quantify infant skin transfer.
Not a baby-wipe-only study. Total fiber counts include cellulose. Gravimetry can include lotion/detergent residue; the authors excluded one residue-affected sample from further comparisons. Fiber-quality measurements cover fibers longer than the conventional microplastic upper size bound as well. No individual-fiber spectroscopic confirmation in the count workflow.
Related evidence
Reported values and source locations
| Reported value | Measurement basis | Conditions and size context | Original document location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 44 ± 3 mg of retained material/g of wipe | Mean ± SD of three gravimetric measurements | Personal-care specimen P1; 16 min metal-ball agitation in 150 mL deionized water at 22 °C; cut, unhemmed specimen Gravimetry has no individual-particle size window; fiber analyzer separate | PDF p. 8 (printed 60591), Table 4; p. 4 test protocol |
| 584,000 total microfibers/g of wipe | Unreplicated FQA fiber count normalized to wipe mass | Personal-care specimen P2; same water-agitation test; FQA count, not plastic-specific spectroscopy P2 observed length 0.05-6.15 mm; analyzer measured 0.05-10 mm | PDF p. 8 (printed 60591), Table 4; p. 5 FQA methods |
Source provenance
Primary PDF SHA-256: 4b43a51e028214c84c3c6d3c0cfa14c756bfbe9d639ee2730b58b5727bc9805c
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