Why you shouldn’t wash your T-shirt after one wear

Experts fear the ingestion of microplastics in the body could damage the immune system, trigger inflammation and could help carry toxins such as mercury or pesticides into the body. In sea mammals, plastics may damage fertility.

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Dr Browne said as clothing was an ineliminable daily item, the findings created an extreme environmental challenge. He said certain polymers could be avoided, but ultimately clothing companies needed to “play their part” in re-designing materials.

“Plastic bottles and bags have long been identified as the most abundant culprits of oceanic plastic. However, our research shows that microfibres can make up over 85 per cent of debris on shorelines,” he said. “It’s really providing information to tackle clothing fibre pollution. Our whole emphasis is about giving information to the consumer.”

Finder’s Consumer Sentiment tracker, which has surveyed over 7000 people, has found most Australians have taken action to reduce their carbon footprint. Two-thirds of respondents said they had reduced their use of plastic.

Finder sustainability expert Ben King said that while many Aussies had good intentions, they’re yet to connect the dots between plastic and their washing machines.

“It’s clear that plastic usage is front of mind for the majority of Aussies, but the focus has been reducing use of coffee cups, bags and straws rather than microplastics,” Mr King said said.

Better education needed

“When it comes to washing machines, the star-rating system has brought attention to the environmental benefit of improved energy efficiency … but few Australians are connecting the two with plastic and washing machines rarely popping up in the same sentence. Better education is definitely needed.”

An Environment Protection Authority spokesman said that it acknowledged that micro and nano debris were a threat to the NSW marine environment.

“This research is significant as it will inform ways in which clothing fibre pollution may be mitigated, and address global knowledge gaps in this space,” the spokesman said.

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Consumer research by sustainable clothing brand Icebreaker found one-third of Australians put on a laundry wash three to four times a week and 49 per cent washed a T-shirt after one day of use.

Icebreaker executive Carla Murphy said: “We challenged people to wear our shirts for seven days straight, in every aspect of their life and tell us what happened.”

The company uses merino wool, which is odour-resistant.

“We had a ridiculous response of people wearing it and I don’t recall anyone complaining [about the smell]. When people are looking to make changes, they don’t think about their clothing in terms of the environment.”

Dr Browne also said washing machine manufacturers should be urged to share their technology to better understand the effect filters have on microplastic runoff.

“There’s no real peer-reviewed evidence about how effective custom washing machine filters are,” he said. “The public is being told something’s effective but there’s no evidence. That’s a real problem.”

“The problem is that consumers have a wide variety, and we need to understand how effective they are.”