A participatory science approach to quantify microfiber emissions from clothes dryers

Studies have shown that washing and drying clothes contribute microfiber contamination to the environment. However, many of the previous studies on clothes drying were conducted under idealized conditions. To better understand microfiber emissions from clothes dryers during normal household use, we recruited participatory volunteer scientists to install a mesh on their dryer vents for three weeks. During that time, the volunteers used a mobile application to record the item dried (e.g., pants, shirt, etc.) and the material composition (e.g., cotton, acrylic, silk). The mesh was then returned and the accumulated material was removed, weighed, and analyzed. The results showed that the items dried were primarily comprised of cotton, followed by polyester. The textile-derived microfibers on the mesh were primarily cellulose, followed by polyethylene terephthalate/polyester and other plastics. When we compared the microfibers on the mesh to the textiles dried, we found that the relative perc..., Project design and participant recruitment
This study was a participatory science project, during which volunteers were asked to participate by either: 1) installing a mesh over their dryer vent to collect microfiber emissions, submitting information about their dryer habits during the three weeks the mesh was installed, and mailing the mesh back to DRI or 2) only submitting information about their dryer habits without installing the mesh to collect microfibers. We recruited volunteers through the League to Save Lake Tahoe, a nonprofit organization located in South Lake Tahoe, California. The project began in April of 2020 and ended in August of 2020.
To recruit participants, the League to Save Lake Tahoe emailed information about the project to their list of volunteers. The email directed potentially interested individuals to fill out a Google form, which asked about their dryer system, their household, and their interest in installing the mesh outside their home (see the supplementary..., # Data from: A participatory science approach to quantify microfiber emissions from clothes dryers

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.prr4xgxzf](10.5061/dryad.prr4xgxzf)

## Description of the data and file structure

### Files and variables

#### File: Dryer_user_data.csv

**Description:** dryer user data

##### Variables

* DryerNo:Dryer mesh number, zero indicates no mesh installed
* Item:Item that was dried.
* Textile:Textile composition.

#### File: DryerVent1.xlsx

**Description:** results from analysis of dryer vent #1

##### Variables

| library\_id | library match id |
| :------------------ | :-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| match\_val | match value |
| match\_threshold | match threshold was...,