ABSTRACT
As domestic laundering has been recognised as a significant source of microfibre marine pollution, it is increasingly important to use reliable methods for quantifying microfibre pollution. Reliable methods for quantification are also important to allowing meaningful comparisons to be made between different fabrics and different laundering conditions and how these influence microfibre release. This allows a better understanding of the factors that influence the release and also facilitates a better assessment of the effectiveness of mitigation strategies to reduce release. Many methods to quantify microfibre release have emerged in recent years, and the methodological approaches employed by researchers are very varied. As such, meaningful comparison of results between studies using different methods has been challenging. This chapter reviews the different approaches to microfibre quantification taken by these studies. The influence of different laundering conditions and fabric variables on microfibre release is also discussed. Finally, a standardised method for quantifying microfibre release from domestic laundering is described.
