Microplastics on Our Skin and in Our Oceans: The Fashion Choice That Connects Personal Health to the Planet

There is a thread, quite literally, that runs from the polyester leggings in your wardrobe to the ocean floor, to the fish on your dinner plate, to the microplastic particles now detected in human blood, lungs, and brain tissue. That thread is made of synthetic fibre, and it connects your most intimate daily choices to one of the most pressing environmental and public health challenges of our era.

Microplastics are no longer an abstract environmental concern. They are inside us. And the clothes we choose to wear are one of the most significant variables in that equation.

What Are Microplastics and Where Do They Come From?

Microplastics are synthetic polymer particles smaller than 5 millimetres. They include fragments broken down from larger plastic items, pellets used in industrial manufacturing (nurdles), and critically for the fashion conversation, fibres shed from synthetic textiles. Nanoplastics, smaller than 100 nanometres, represent the finest end of this spectrum and are now understood to carry the greatest absorption and biological penetration potential.

Sources of microplastics are varied: degraded plastic packaging, road tyre wear, paint flaking, agricultural plastic film, and synthetic textiles. But textile fibre shedding is consistently identified as one of the most significant single sources of ocean microplastic contamination globally, accounting  according to the 2017 New Textiles Economy report, for an estimated half a million tonnes of synthetic microfibre entering marine environments annually from washing alone.

In fact, recent research indicates that adults could be inhaling tens of thousands of microplastic particles every day, with indoor levels far surpassing those outdoors (Yakovenko et al., 2025). The 2025 study highlighted synthetic textiles, garments, and furnishings as major sources of this airborne contamination."

Microplastics on Our Skin: The Personal Impact

While scientists used to focus mostly on what happens when we breathe in or swallow microplastics, a 2024 University of Birmingham study published in Environment International (Abafe et al., 2024) proved for the first time that our skin absorbs them too. The researchers showed that microplastics from synthetic clothes leach toxic chemicals, like flame retardants, into human sweat, allowing up to 8% of these harmful compounds to pass directly through the skin barrier.

Sweatier skin absorbed even higher concentrations of these chemicals. Lead researcher Dr. Ovokeroye Abafe explained that microplastics act like 'carriers' that enter our bloodstream through the skin.

These flame retardants, along with other common additives like PFAS ('forever chemicals'), phthalates, and heavy metals, carry serious health risks, including hormone disruption, reproductive issues, liver damage, and increased cancer risk. While many of these toxins are now restricted in the EU, older synthetic clothes and environmental microplastics keep exposing us to them (Hahladakis et al., 2018).

Beyond chemical risks, the physical particles themselves are a problem. A 2025 review in Frontiers in Environmental Science (Prata et al., 2025) noted that microscopic nanoplastics easily penetrate skin cells, causing inflammation and oxidative stress. Studies show they pass even deeper through damaged skin, putting people with eczema, psoriasis, or sensitive skin at an even higher risk.

Microplastics in Our Oceans: The Global Crisis

Synthetic clothes cause pollution throughout their entire lifespan—from manufacture and everyday wear to washing and disposal. Every time a polyester or nylon garment is washed, thousands of tiny plastic fibers pass through water treatment plants into rivers and oceans (Browne et al., 2011).

Today, these fibers are everywhere: in deep-sea trenches, Arctic sea ice, coral reefs, and marine animals (Jamieson et al., 2019). Marine life ingests these fibers, suffering from blocked digestive tracts, starvation, and toxic poisoning. As larger fish eat smaller ones, these toxins travel straight up the food chain.

At the top of that food chain are humans. Microplastics have already been found in commercial seafood, drinking water, sea salt, and even beer (Danopoulos et al., 2020). Recent landmark studies have now detected microplastics inside human blood, lungs, placentas, and organs (Leslie et al., 2022), proving that ocean pollution is directly impacting our personal health.

The Thread That Connects: Your Wardrobe's Role

The reality is simple: the average synthetic wardrobe fuels both problems. Washing polyester releases microplastics into the ocean, while wearing tight activewear sheds fibers onto your skin and into the air inside your home.

This isn't about placing blame, it's a structural issue in the fashion industry. Synthetic fibers make up over 73% of all global textiles, largely driven by cheap fast-fashion manufacturing (Textile Exchange, 2023). Consumers didn't create this system, but we can choose how we participate in it.

Fashion Choices That Protect You and the Planet

Switching to natural fibers, like organic cotton, linen, silk, hemp, and wool, tackles both issues at once:

• Zero Microplastics: Natural fibers biodegrade instead of shedding plastic particles.

• Fewer Toxic Additives: They aren't coated in synthetic plasticizers or PFAS.

• Better for Sensitive Skin: Organic natural fibers let skin breathe without exposing it to harmful chemical leaching.

FAQs: Microplastics, Fashion, and Environmental Health

How does clothing release microplastics into oceans?

Synthetic clothing releases microplastic fibres primarily during washing  with each cycle potentially releasing hundreds of thousands of fibres that pass through water treatment systems and enter waterways, rivers, and ultimately oceans. Additional shedding occurs during wear and movement. An estimated half a million tonnes of textile microfibre enter marine environments annually.

Are microplastics on our skin from clothing?

Research from the University of Birmingham (2024) confirmed that microplastic particles shed by synthetic clothing can carry toxic chemical additives into sweat, which are then absorbed through the skin. This dermal pathway joins inhalation as a documented route of microplastic-associated chemical exposure from clothing.

What is sustainable fashion's role in microplastic pollution?

Sustainable fashion  particularly natural fibre clothing  directly reduces microplastic pollution by eliminating the synthetic fibre shedding that is central to both environmental contamination and personal exposure. Natural fibres biodegrade rather than accumulating as synthetic microplastics. Slow fashion's emphasis on quality and longevity also reduces total garment production and therefore total fibre shedding over time.

How can I avoid microplastics from clothes?

Choose natural fibre clothing as your primary wardrobe strategy  organic cotton, linen, wool, silk, and hemp do not shed synthetic microplastics. For synthetic items you continue to own, use a Guppyfriend wash bag, wash at lower temperatures and less frequently, and consider a microplastic-capturing washing machine filter.

The thread from your wardrobe to the ocean is real. At No More Nobody UK, we're committed to breaking it  one natural fibre piece at a time.

Written by Monisha Hasigala Krishnappa

References: 

1. Dermal Absorption Study (2024): Abafe, O. A., Harrad, S., & Abdallah, M. A. (2024). Assessment of human dermal absorption of flame retardant additives in polyethylene and polypropylene microplastics using 3D human skin equivalent models. Environment International, 186, 108642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2024.108642

2. Skin Barrier & Nanoplastics Review (2025): Prata, J. C., et al. (2025). Interactions of micro- and nanoplastics with human skin: Absorption, toxicity, and health implications. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 13, 110293. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2025.110293

3. Plastics Additives & Health Risks (2018): Hahladakis, J. N., et al. (2018). An overview of chemical additives present in plastics: Migration, release, fate and environmental impact. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 344, 179-199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2017.10.014

4. Washing Machine Fiber Shedding (2011): Browne, M. A., et al. (2011). Accumulation of microplastic on shorelines woldwide: Sources and sinks. Environmental Science & Technology, 45(21), 9175–9179. https://doi.org/10.1021/es201811s

5. Deep Ocean Microplastics (2019): Jamieson, A. J., et al. (2019). Microplastics and synthetic particles ingested by deep-sea amphipods in six of the deepest marine ecosystems on Earth. Royal Society Open Science, 6(2), 180667. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.180667

6. Microplastics in Seafood/Diet (2020): Danopoulos, E., et al. (2020). Microplastic contamination in seafood intended for human consumption: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environmental Health Perspectives, 128(12), 126002. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7171

7. Microplastics in Human Blood (2022): Leslie, H. A., et al. (2022). Discovery and quantification of plastic particle pollution in human blood. Environment International, 163, 107199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2022.107199

8. 73% Synthetic Market Share (2023): Textile Exchange Preferred Fiber and Materials Market Report 2023. https://textileexchange.org/reports/preferred-fiber-and-materials-market-report/