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- Written by: Judith Weis, Rutgers University - Newark
Microplastics are turning up everywhere, from remote mountain tops to deep ocean trenches. They also are in many animals, including humans.
The most common microplastics in the environment are microfibers – plastic fragments shaped like tiny threads or filaments. Microfibers come from many sources, including cigarette butts, fishing nets and ropes, but the biggest source is synthetic fabrics, which constantly shed them.
Textiles shed microfibers while they are manufactured, worn and disposed of, but especially when they are washed. A single wash load can release several million microfibers. Many factors affect how many fibers are released, including fabric type, mechanical action, detergents, temperature and the duration of the wash cycle.
My research focuses on coastal ecology and water pollution, including work in New York and New Jersey marshes and estuaries that are heavily affected by human activities. Here are some things to know about reducing microplastic pollution from your washing machine.
From fabric to water and soil
Once garments release microfibers in washing machines, the fibers enter the wastewater stream, which generally goes to a wastewater treatment plant. Advanced treatment plants can remove up to 99% of microfibers from water. But since a single laundry load can produce millions of fibers, treated water discharged from the plant still contains a huge number of them.
Microfibers that are removed during treatment end up in sewage sludge – a mix of solid materials that is processed to remove pathogens. In many cases, treated sewage sludge is applied to soil as a fertilizer. This allows microfibers to enter air and soil, and to be transferred to soil organisms and up the terrestrial food web or taken up by crops.
Microplastics that wash into rivers, lakes and bays can have many harmful effects. They may be consumed by fish and other aquatic animals, affecting their biochemistry, physiology, reproduction, development or behavior. These microplastics contain chemical additives, including substances like phthalates and bisphenol A that can leach out and may have health effects in humans and animals, including effects on the endocrine system.
Textile microfibers also contain additional chemicals that have been shown to be toxic, such as fabric dyes, anti-wrinkle agents and flame retardants. In addition, contaminants that are present in the water, such as metals and pesticides, can stick to microplastic particles, turning them into a veritable cocktail of contaminants that may be transferred into animals that eat them
Washing more sustainably
Not all fabrics shed microfibers at the same rate. A loosely woven fabric that feels fluffy or fuzzy, such as fleece, sheds more than a tightly woven one. While garments made of natural fibers, such as cotton and wool, would appear to be a solution, unfortunately they also shed microfibers that can pick up pollutants in the environment.
Some textile scientists and manufacturers are developing fabrics that shed less than existing ones, thanks to features such as longer fibers and coatings to reduce shedding. Meanwhile, here are some ways to reduce microfiber shedding from your laundry:
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Do laundry less often. Washing full loads instead of partial loads reduces release of microfibers because garments are exposed to less friction during the wash cycle.
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Use cold water, which releases fewer microfibers than hot water.
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Use less detergent, which increases microfiber release.
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Use a front-loading washing machine, whose tumbling action produces less microfiber release.
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Dry laundry on a clothesline. Running clothes in dryers releases additional microfibers into the air from the dryer vent.
Several types of products collect microfibers in the washer before they are released with wastewater. Some are laundry bags made of woven monofilament, a single-polyamide filament that does not disintegrate into fibers. Laundry is washed while enclosed in the bag, which traps microfibers that the garments release. A study of one such product, Guppyfriend, found that it collected about one-third of released microfibers.
Another device, the Cora Ball, is a plastic ball with spines topped with soft plastic discs that capture microfibers. It reduces microfibers by about 25% to 30%, but may not be suitable for loose knits because it can snag on threads and damage clothing.
Filter your washwater
Several brands of external filters are available that can be retrofitted onto existing washing machines. External filters can remove up to 90% of microfibers from rinse water. Their average cost is about US$150. Owners need to clean the filters periodically and dispose of the collected microfibers with other solid waste, not down the drain, which would put them back into the wastewater stream.
In a 2021 study, researchers installed washing machine filters in 97 homes in a town in Ontario, Canada, which represented about 10% of the households in the community. They found that this significantly reduced microfibers in treated water from the local treatment plant.
Some companies are now manufacturing washers with built-in microfiber filters. France has enacted a requirement for all new washing machines to be equipped with filters by 2025, and Australia has announced that filters will be required in commercial and residential washers by 2030.
In the U.S., a similar requirement was passed by the California legislature in 2023, but Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill, saying he was concerned about the cost to consumers. An economic study commissioned by Ocean Conservancy found that filters would increase the price of washing machines by only $14 to $20 per machine. Several states are considering regulations that would require filters in washers.
In my view, requiring manufacturers to add filters that can trap microfibers to washing machines is a reasonable and affordable step that could rapidly reduce the enormous quantities of microfibers in wastewater. The eventual solution will be reengineered textiles, which won’t shed, but it will take some time to develop them and move them into clothing supply chains. In the meantime, filters are the most effective way to tackle the problem.
Judith Weis, Professor Emerita of Biological Sciences, Rutgers University - Newark
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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- Written by: Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Earth’s average surface temperature in 2023 was the warmest on record, according to an analysis by NASA. Global temperatures last year were around 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above the average for NASA’s baseline period (1951-1980), scientists from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York reported.
“NASA and NOAA’s global temperature report confirms what billions of people around the world experienced last year; we are facing a climate crisis,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “From extreme heat, to wildfires, to rising sea levels, we can see our Earth is changing. There’s still more work to be done, but President Biden and communities across America are taking more action than ever to reduce climate risks and help communities become more resilient – and NASA will continue to use our vantage point of space to bring critical climate data back down to Earth that is understandable and accessible for all people. NASA and the Biden-Harris Administration are working to protect our home planet and its people, for this generation – and the next.”
In 2023, hundreds of millions of people around the world experienced extreme heat, and each month from June through December set a global record for the respective month. July was the hottest month ever recorded. Overall, Earth was about 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 1.4 degrees Celsius) warmer in 2023 than the late 19th-century average, when modern record-keeping began.
“The exceptional warming that we’re experiencing is not something we’ve seen before in human history,” said Gavin Schmidt, director of GISS. “It’s driven primarily by our fossil fuel emissions, and we’re seeing the impacts in heat waves, intense rainfall, and coastal flooding.”
Though scientists have conclusive evidence that the planet’s long-term warming trend is driven by human activity, they still examine other phenomena that can affect yearly or multi-year changes in climate such as El Niño, aerosols and pollution, and volcanic eruptions.
Typically, the largest source of year-to-year variability is the El Niño – Southern Oscillation ocean climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean. The pattern has two phases – El Niño and La Niña – when sea surface temperatures along the equator switch between warmer, average, and cooler temperatures. From 2020-2022, the Pacific Ocean saw three consecutive La Niña events, which tend to cool global temperatures. In May 2023, the ocean transitioned from La Niña to El Niño, which often coincides with the hottest years on record.
However, the record temperatures in the second half of 2023 occurred before the peak of the current El Niño event. Scientists expect to see the biggest impacts of El Niño in February, March, and April.
Scientists have also investigated possible impacts from the January 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai undersea volcano, which blasted water vapor and fine particles, or aerosols, into the stratosphere. A recent study found that the volcanic aerosols – by reflecting sunlight away from Earth’s surface – led to an overall slight cooling of less than 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit (or about 0.1 degrees Celsius) in the Southern Hemisphere following the eruption.
“Even with occasional cooling factors like volcanoes or aerosols, we will continue to break records as long as greenhouse gas emissions keep going up,” Schmidt said. “And, unfortunately, we just set a new record for greenhouse gas emissions again this past year.”
“The record-setting year of 2023 underscores the significance of urgent and continued actions to address climate change,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “Recent legislation has delivered the U.S. government’s largest-ever climate investment, including billions to strengthen America’s resilience to the increasing impacts of the climate crisis. As an agency focused on studying our changing climate, NASA’s fleet of Earth observing satellites will continue to provide critical data of our home planet at scale to help all people make informed decisions.”
Open science in action
NASA assembles its temperature record using surface air temperature data collected from tens of thousands of meteorological stations, as well as sea surface temperature data acquired by ship- and buoy-based instruments. This data is analyzed using methods that account for the varied spacing of temperature stations around the globe and for urban heating effects that could skew the calculations.
Independent analyses by NOAA and the Hadley Centre (part of the United Kingdom Met Office) concluded the global surface temperatures for 2023 were the highest since modern record-keeping began. These scientists use much of the same temperature data in their analyses but use different methodologies. Although rankings can differ slightly between the records, they are in broad agreement and show the same ongoing long-term warming in recent decades.
Building on a half century of research, observations, and models, the Biden-Harris Administration including NASA and several federal partners recently launched the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center to make critical climate data readily available to decisionmakers and citizens. The center supports collaboration across U.S. government agencies and the non-profit and private sectors to make air-, ground-, and space-borne data and resources available online.
NASA’s full dataset of global surface temperatures through 2023, as well as details with code of how NASA scientists conducted the analysis, are publicly available from GISS. GISS is a NASA laboratory managed by the Earth Sciences Division of the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The laboratory is affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Science in New York.
For more information on NASA, visit: https://www.nasa.gov.
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- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
CLEARLAKE, Calif. — The new president of Woodland Community College made her first visit to the Lake County Campus on Friday, hearing from staff and community leaders about their hopes for the future and what’s needed to rejuvenate the campus.
Dr. Lizette Navarette, accompanied by Chancellor Dr. Shouan Pan, received a warm welcome and, in turn, shared her hopes for the college’s — and the campus’ — future.
The Yuba Community College District Board named Navarette the new college president in November and approved her $208,869-per-year contract in December. The contract is for two and a half years, from her official start date on Jan. 8 through to June 30, 2026.
The visit came at the end of her first week on the job.
While Navarette is still getting adjusted to her new position, Dr. Pan said he wanted to make sure she came to visit the college as soon as possible.
Last fall, ahead of Navarette’s selection, college staff, students and community members had begun to raise pointed concerns about the future of the Lake County Campus, now in its 51st year, and whether it could survive a lack of resources that to many have looked like a purposeful campaign of attrition against it. At the same time, staff have pointed to more resources being given to the main Woodland campus.
Those concerns came to a head on Nov. 9, when the college board held its annual meeting at the Lake County Campus. At that meeting, a room filled with community members made their alarm clear to the college leadership and demanded the help needed to expand the college in order to benefit Clearlake and Lake County.
Pan said at Friday’s reception that Navarette watched that meeting online, so she was aware of what community members were concerned about when it came to the campus’ future.
Laying out priorities
Those in attendance included Clearlake City Council members Russell Cremer and Dirk Slooten; City Manager Alan Flora; college Trustee Doug Harris; District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier; professors Dr. Laurie Daly, Jennifer Hanson and Dr. Annette Lee; retired instructor Sissa Harris; Chef Robert Cabreros, head of the Culinary Arts program; and numerous college classified staff.
During a reception that lasted more than an hour and a half, Navarette thanked everyone for the warm welcome and outlined her three priorities: Listen, learn, collaborate.
Navarette is a first-generation college graduate who most recently served as executive vice chancellor at the California Community College Chancellor’s Office.
She hails from Southern California, and is the daughter of immigrant parents who worked as laborers, and who benefited from community college.
Navarette said she sees the college’s primary role as helping cultivate the aspirations of people like her family.
She said she plans to be in Clearlake once a month to build connections not just with the campus but the larger community, its businesses and leaders, explaining she wants to reinvigorate the campus and is looking forward to the collaboration process.
In response to the continuing belief among some community members that the campus could be lost, Pan assured the group that’s not the case. “It’s not going away.”
He said he, Navarette and the board are committed to the campus. “That’s not just saying the words. That’s commitment.”
However, Pan has emphasized that there are many challenges ahead.
During the reception, Doug Harris said he sees as essential the campus’ revitalization. To get there, he said it will require putting together a strategic and thoughtful set of plans for how the college and community can work together.
“This campus is the pinnacle of higher education in Lake County,” he said.
Harris added, “It needs to be brought back to a position of growing that importance rather than watching it dwindle.”
Pan said Harris’ sentiments are consistent with what college leadership has heard from others.
Staffers including Natasha Cornett emphasized the need for guided pathways and a different approach to handling classes that doesn’t include canceling them too early.
Leadership is key
As he has done in other discussions, Pan emphasized the importance of key leadership positions. With Navarette now in place, they next need to hire a permanent dean for the Lake County Campus.Once that new dean is selected, Pan said he believes there will be a closer working relationship between the Woodland Community College leadership and the Lake County Campus.
He also pointed to the impact of a large amount of staff turnover in college leadership that occurred over the past year. “We’re beginning a new page, a new time for the system.”
Daly, a professor of early childhood development, said she remembered when the college had been busy, and now it isn’t.
“This campus to me, means, just hope,” she said, adding that she believes education is the way out of poverty.
Shared governance between the campus and the administration is important, and she questioned what happened to it, pointing to a top-down approach that has led to disconnect. One example: Her requests for class sections were ignored and, as a result, a key class needed for students to finish their certifications was left off the schedule.
“This place means the world to me,” said Sabatier, a former student and employee at the college, who credited everything he is doing today as coming from the campus.
He said about 30% of Clearlake’s population is in poverty, compared to about 16% countywide. Only 8% have bachelor’s degrees.
To get out of poverty, students need peer support. When rust is lost, it erodes the capability of people to get out of the system, Sabatier said.
Sabatier said there will be tough conversations, but that they are going to build strong relationships.
Hanson, who said she remembers the campus’ glory days, added that she has yet to see the resource attrition for the campus stop. She said she is concerned about the intense inequity between what happens at Woodland Community College and the Lake County Campus.
Lee followed up by giving an impassioned overview of the campus’ needs, from organizational efficiency to taking better care of students.
Nearly a decade ago, when the Lake County Campus was realigned with Woodland College, Lee said the campus community was torn down and disrupted.
She said they are now getting great new programs like the Caring Campus, designed to increase student retention and success in community colleges. But she said they’d had programs like that and were told to stop.
Positions need to be made full-time, counselors need to be hired and they need to look at ways to get new people onto campus — such as through career technical education — with Lee explaining that students who are doing well online won’t be coming back.
Lee said staff knows how to bring the campus back. “It’s just such a grind working with this organization because we are so dismissed.”
However, she said she’s excited for the new leadership and believe Navarette and Pan can succeed.
Slooten said people felt Woodland College didn’t pay attention to what the community needs are and that the college administration felt they knew better than the campus leadership, which they didn’t.
“The city of Clearlake really needs this campus to flourish,” Slooten said.
Cremer said he wants to see more agriculture classes, and more willingness by the college to invest in new programs.
Cabreros, whose culinary program is one of the campus’ great successes, said all of his classes are over-full and have waiting lists. He said he’s looking forward to meeting with Navarette to share his vision for the campus.
Flora joked that Pan had told him Navarette would solve all of the campus’ problems.
“We feel like the campus has been squeezed beyond where it can be successful,” Flora said.
Mary Wilson, student engagement and outreach specialist, said 20% of the Clearlake population doesn't have a high school diploma, and they also have a high percentage of people who don’t speak English. As a result, she said they need adult education skills classes. The college doesn’t have those now due to the elimination of the LEARN program.
Patricia Barbara, the Lake County Campus’ interim dean, said many students continue to struggle, especially after the impacts of having to go online during the pandemic, and the LEARN program helped address that.
Pan thanked the group for coming and speaking candidly and forcefully about their concerns. “We’re committed to working with you.”
He said leadership matters but it can’t solve every problem, and it will take everyone working together.
Navarette said she plans to follow up with people about their comments and concerns.
She recognized that Lake County has challenges and has endured disasters.
However, she said, “There is hope.”
Navarette asked for patience as they worked through the process of getting people back on campus.
Learning is a great privilege, but Navarette said that at the end of the day, students come to college to get a better job.
A key question she raised is how they prepare the workforce to be ready, and she wants to brainstorm together on finding the answer.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
The notice of judgment is now available which includes a full transcription of the judge’s Nov. 20, 2023 decision. It is published below.
The dispute centered around the 18th Avenue project, which the city called “a vital piece of infrastructure needed to support the much-anticipated hotel project.”
The Koi alleged that the city had not participated in consultation with the tribe as required by state law.
The court denied all claims brought by the Koi, instead ruling the city’s analysis of tribal cultural resources was sufficient.
In the ruling, the court also found that the Koi’s claims that tribal consultation procedures were not followed by the city were false and that, in actuality, the Koi never even adequately requested consultation.
After the ruling was issued the Koi asked the court to grant a “stay” of any construction work until a hearing could be granted on a possible appeal.
The court heard arguments on the stay on Dec. 11 and rejected the stay request due to a lack of merit.
City officials said the ruling follows their lengthy efforts to ensure development efforts to not harm tribal resources, including consultation with tribes, commissioning a thorough survey and report from a professional archeologist, allowing the tribe to provide contractor cultural sensitivity training before work starts and putting into place a number of mitigation measures in case there is an inadvertent discovery.
In his in-depth ruling, Judge Michael Lunas explained, “I am compelled and left with the finding that there is substantial evidence supporting the city’s determination, including their assessment of the evidence offered by petitioner. There is substantial evidence supporting the city’s determination independent of the evidence offered by petitioner, and there is substantial evidence supporting the city’s determination in consideration and assessing the evidence offered by petitioner and the entirety of the evidentiary record under the applicable legal standard. Accordingly, the city has properly reviewed and considered tribal cultural resources and specifically considered and assessed the evidence presented by petitioner. The city properly considered petitioner’s input, properly heard and considered petitioners evidence regarding knowledge of the site and whether tribal cultural resources were present. The mitigation adopted was appropriate to the facts. And as a result, the city did not fail to consider cumulative impacts regarding this project and other projects. The causes of action set forth in the petition fail on this review. Each cause of action, including as already noted, the cause of action based on improper consultation is denied on its merits and not sustained on the evidence. The petition for writ is denied.”
The project will extend 18th Avenue to connect the Old Highway 53 with State Route 53, another important part of improving the city’s overall transportation system.
It also includes a four-story, 75-room Fairfield Inn & Suites hotel, one-story meeting hall and parking lot.
The site is on almost 3.5 acres of land on the former Pearce Airport landing strip, long used as a city storage and equipment yard.
“We are working hard to improve the city’s roads, parks, housing and tourism options, among other priorities,” said Mayor David Claffey. “This project is a four-way winner; it includes transportation improvements, new jobs, additional hotel rooms and a community gathering space. We take the issues raised by the Koi very seriously and it’s why we go to great lengths to
proactively identify and mitigate potential concerns. It’s reassuring to have such a clear ruling from the court that validates our thoughtful approach to development, and we look forward to returning to a practice of reasonable and collaborative efforts with all our community members.”
Downey Brand represented the City of Clearlake in this case and continues to represent the city in a similar lawsuit also filed by the Koi Nation in July over plans for the Burns Valley sports complex and recreation center. That lawsuit has not yet come to hearing.
2023-12-27--Notice of Entry of Judgement(4041580.1) (1) by LakeCoNews on Scribd
