pureWash Laundry System: Potential Solution to Microplastic Pollution

GTE's pureWash reduces fiber shedding in wash cycle.

Did you know your washing machine may be producing more than just clean clothes? A recently published study in the November Issue of Environmental Science & Technology suggests that your washing machine is likely the source of major environmental contamination. After researchers found high amounts of microplastics, or tiny particles of plastic (smaller than one nanometer), in water along the shores of eighteen countries’ coastlines, they determined washing machines may be the culprits.

“After testing this microplastic, it was concluded that wastewater from home washing machines was the probable source,” writes Wendy Koch of USA Today. “Bits of polyester and acrylic smaller than the head of pin are likely rinsing off garments during the wash cycle and ending up on shorelines... more than 1,900 fibers can rinse off a single garment.” Researchers also suggested that these microplastics are potentially hazardous, having the capability to absorb toxic chemicals (like PCBs) and make their way into our food supply (via the fish that ingest them).

Given the daunting outlook of the continued contamination of waterways with microplastics, researchers called for both consumers and manufacturers to look for ways to reduce this pollution by washing clothes less frequently, buying and making clothes with eco-friendly fibers, and innovating new ways to wash clothes and filter out the microplastics. GreenTech Environmental, a small Tennessee-based supply company, could house the solution scientists and environmentalists are looking for: the pureWash Laundry System.

How pureWash Can Help

Instead of re-inventing the washing machine standard to most American homes, the folks at GreenTech Environmental engineered the pureWash Laundry System. pureWash works by adding enhanced oxygen and Photo Catalytic Oxidizers to the water supply of the washing machine. In turn, the high-powered water supply washes clothes naturally, without detergent or additives or even hot water.

Because laundry detergents are made with small zeolite crystals which are designed to remove dirt from clothes, during the wash cycle the crystals strip fibers from the garments resulting in the microplastic-contaminated waste water referred to above. Without detergent, there is nothing present in the wash cycle to strip fibers from clothes. Thus, by using the pureWash system consumers can easily cut back on their own contribution to the microplastic pollution.

Not only is this solution already available, but it could be one of the easiest to implement on a large scale. Once the system is connected to your washing machine by the hose as demonstrated in this video, pureWash does the rest of the work itself. To learn more about the pureWash system or other environmentally-friendly products, visit GreenTech Enviornmental's website at www.GreenTechEnv.com.

Koch, Wendy. (2011, October 27). Washing Machines Cause Ocean Pollution. USA Today. 27 Oct 2011. Retrieved from: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2011/10/washing
-machines-cause-ocean-pollution

Mark Anthony Browne, Phillip Crump, Stewart J. Niven, Emma Teuten, Andrew Tonkin, Tamara Galloway, and Richard Thompson. Accumulation of Microplastic on Shorelines Worldwide: Sources and Sinks. Environmental Science & Technology.2011 45 (21), 9175-9179.