Worldwide attention is increasing on the dangers of microplastics, and more specifically microfibres with evidence mounting that the world could face a looming environmental and health crisis.

The World Economic Forum has heard that microplastics have been found in the land, sea and air, across the food chain and throughout the human body, and while the full extent of the health impacts is not yet known there are links to heart attacks, stroke and Alzheimer’s.

Microfibers, unlike natural fibres, are a significant contributor to microplastic pollution with most microfibres coming from synthetic clothing during washing.

At the recent Australian Cotton Collective, microfibres were a key focus with speakers agreeing the issue is becoming harder to ignore.

Dr. Stefan Hajkowicz, a chief research consultant with the CSIRO, said the problem often begins in the laundry. “The biggest source of microplastics or microfibres in the environment is actually the washing machine,” he explained. “When you wash your clothes, it goes into the water and then it goes out to the bay and they stay there. We’re getting increased concentrations of these microplastics, and we have a lot of concerns about the impacts on human health. We don’t know what they are fully, but we quite understand what we’re concerned about.”

Joe Nicosia, a U.S.-based executive with the Louis Dreyfus Company, echoed those concerns. He urged people to take a closer look at the research. “Google microplastics and health,” he said. “Look at the sheer number of studies that are coming through. It’s related to hypertension, to heart attacks, to dementia, to the amount of microfibres and microplastics being found in our blood.” His takeaway was clear: “We’re looking at the man-made fibres—they’re really plastics. And we know we have a plastic problem in the world today. Using cotton is one of the ways that we can help alleviate that.”

Earlier this year, the Bremen Cotton Exchange published a research report showing how widespread the problem has become. Microfibres—defined as particles under five millimetres—have been found everywhere, from the Mariana Trench to the snows of Tibet. Even smaller nanoplastics, invisible to the eye, are now being detected in human blood and tissue.

The history is short but troubling. Polyester has been around for less than 70 years, yet microplastics are already turning up in every corner of the planet. By contrast, natural fibres like cotton and wool have been worn for thousands of years without the same environmental buildup. The Bremen report put it bluntly: “Clothing made from artificial fibres may be hazardous to your health, that of your family, and that of every other living creature.”

Taking action in the fight against man-made fibres, Cotton Australia and the Australian Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA) recently met with their Brazillian and US counterparts to discuss a coordinated global promotion of “plants not plastic”.