Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I'm looking to do a science project related to microfibers.

Possibly testing to see how many microfibers synthetic textiles release under different washing conditions in a standard washing machine.

I was wondering if this idea seems a bit too easy for a high school science fair project, or if there were other project ideas pertaining to microfibers or microplastics.

Any and all help is appreciated.

Hi Alyssa,

Thanks for the question about microfibers. I had not realized that these fibers are made from synthetics like polyester and nylon and are contributing to the plastic pollution in the oceans and our water supplies--and our bodies! Here's a cool video I just watched about a team that is cruising the oceans and sampling the water to see how many fibers there are: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbg0L7JN15U

I thought about this as a possible project, but as usual with all the interesting stuff it requires some expensive equipment (a microscope) and supplies (micron filters). You don't need a $20,000 scope, however. A basic one that can magnify up to 400x will do as the microfibers are about 1/15 the diameter of a human hair. Scientists measure quantities using the metric system as you know, and a microfiber commonly has a diameter of 5 microns, which is shorthand for 5 micrometers, which means 5 millionths of a meter. A human hair has a range of diameters from about 20 microns up to 180 microns, so a microfiber is a good deal smaller than a human hair. The microfiber fabric that you see is made up of many, many microfibers spun into threads to weave the cloth.

So, IF you have a microscope, or can borrow one--preferably one that has an attachment for a digital camera--you could do a project to look for microfibers in seawater if you happen to live near an ocean, or a river or lake. If your household water comes from a city water source, you could also examine it for microfibers.

There are lots of details about this project that we can discuss later if you are interested. Let me know what you think about it. Do you have any ideas about where to look for microfiber pollution? These fibers are apparently everywhere, but there is uncertainty as to whether they are harmful. Asbestos is a fiber from a mineral and was proven to be associated with lung cancer many years ago, so I would certainly think these microfibers should be subjected to some long-term testing to prove their safety before a problem appears.

Post again and we can talk more about this interesting subject of plastic pollution.

Sybee

That sounds like a good idea! I have a microscope and can probably get something worked out there. I do live near a river where I could test for microfibers. As far as the purpose of the project, would it just be to test for microfibers in the water? This is my first time doing a project so I am a bit unsure. Thank you!

I think the project would center on comparing the microfiber content in several different types of water. Use your home tap water, collect rain water, get water from the river and any other body of water that you can drive to. If you can get water from the ocean that would really be great as that is where most of the potential problem of plastic pollution is being studied by scientists.

One cool feature of microfibers is that they glow (the technical term is fluoresce) when they are flashed with light of a certain wavelength. I'm not sure if ultraviolet will make them light up. That's something you could search for. The glow would make the fibers a lot easier to spot under the microscope, but fluorescence microscopes cost as much as a Toyota and unless you can borrow one, you may have to come up with some diy tricks to make it work with your setup. I have a hand-held UV lamp that I use for looking at fluorescent minerals and I think it would work if you put the fibers on a microscope slide and shone the light on them. I think UV lamps are fairly inexpensive. Just make sure that you get the kind that is safe to use and wear UV-resistant safety glasses. Check with your teacher about this before doing it because UV light can be harmful to unprotected eyes. Here is a guide for safe use of a UV light source for an experiment: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... #procedure

Let me know when you have more questions.

Sybee