Case Western Reserve University is set to install filters to washing machines across campus to reduce microplastic pollution during the laundry cycle.

Microplastics can be found virtually anywhere , and studies have found that wastewater from washing machines is a primary source. As clothing is washed during the laundry cycle, it dispels microplastics in the form of thread-like microfibers that end up circulating through wastewater systems.

"In many lakes and rivers, there are microfibers coming from waste management plants, sewage treatment and washing machines by the trillions daily," plastics pollution scientist and co-founder of 5 Gyres Institute Marcus Eriksen said. "That's a contaminant and the impact frontier is human health."

A single load of laundry can produce millions

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