Fig. 2: Effect of repeated washing on the number of submicrometre particles released from four selected fabrics.
The number of released submicrometre particles decreases during the repeated washing of the selected fabrics, while the size distribution remains largely unchanged. a, Concentration of submicrometre particles (100–600 nm) released during four repeated washes of four polyester textiles. The data are presented as the mean ± sd (n = 3 textile replicates). The contamination level of blanks (Lob, dashed line) was calculated29 as the mean blank + 1.63sd (n = 12 blanks). b–e, Hydrodynamic size distributions of the submicrometre particles (100–400 nm) released during four repeated washes (R1 to R4) of four different fabrics: Fleece (b), Interlock S (c), Plain F (d) and Satin F (e).
