The objective of this proof-of-concept project is to further understand the fate and transport in the environment of microplastics impacted with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Textiles are used for many purposes, and textiles that are water repellant, heat resistant, and flame retardant commonly contain PFAS, flame retardants, and synthetic materials. These chemicals may then enter the environment through laundering and degradation processes. PFAS, flame retardants, and microfiber emissions from laundering and the degradation of textiles through controlled laboratory studies will be assessed in the project.

To address the stated goal, a laboratory-bench scale approach will be employed to analyze a suite of textiles. For the measurement of microplastics, microplastics > 20 micrometers will be the main focus and filters will be weighed before and after the laboratory sampling. A subset of the particles on the filters will be chemically verified using microscope enabled Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. For PFAS and flame-retardant measurements, water samples will be processed using solid phase extraction and transferred to an autosampler vial for analysis. Solid samples will be extracted using accelerated solvent extractor using methanol. All samples will be analyzed using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry for PFAS and flame retardants. For gas-phase PFAS and flame retardants, the sorbent media will be extracted or directly injected into gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Laboratory blanks will be quantified using the same approaches applied to the samples.

Recent research on firefighters’ personal protective equipment has shown that these textiles can contain high concentrations of PFAS; a systematic study of textiles for PFAS, flame retardants, and microfibers would be useful to determine the fate and transport of such materials. The results from this study will contribute to a growing scientific literature on the fate and transport of chemicals in textiles, ultimately providing information to improve processing of such materials. (Anticipated Project Completion - 2027)