When a team of scientists was collecting microplastic samples from the Canadian Arctic archipelago and the Great Lakes, they noticed something odd.
They saw that the samples were littered with tiny blue fibers.
Using chemical and microscopic analyses, they identified exactly what these specific fibers were: threads from denim blue jeans.
After learning how to separate jeans’ microfibers from others, the researchers examined wastewater discharge before it was emptied into Lake Ontario.