Microfibers in Life Cycle Assessment: Comparing the Physical Effects of Cellulosic and Synthetic Fibers via Characterization Factors Development

Microfibers in Life Cycle Assessment: Comparing the Physical Effects of Cellulosic and Synthetic Fibers via Characterization Factors Development | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Microfibers in Life Cycle Assessment: Comparing the Physical Effects of Cellulosic and Synthetic Fibers via Characterization Factors Development Nadim Saadi, Anne-Marie Boulay This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7220630/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management → Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Textile clothing is a significant contributor to microfiber pollution in aquatic ecosystems. A large portion of these emissions are cellulosic-based, either natural (e.g., cotton, linen) or semi-synthetic (e.g., viscose, lyocell), which can be ingested by aquatic organisms, posing harmful effects even at environmentally relevant concentrations. Studies comparing the effects of cellulosic and synthetic fibers report conflicting results: some suggest synthetic fibers are more harmful, others the opposite. However, despite their high environmental abundance, the lack of a species sensitivity distribution (SSD) for cellulosic microfibers (CMFs) has prevented comparison of their effects with synthetic microfibers (SMFs). Further, while SMFs have been integrated into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) through characterization factors (CFs), equivalent CFs for CMFs are missing, due to a lack of an exposure and effect factor (EEF) specific to these fibers. We derived CFs for six CMFs (cotton, linen, viscose, lyocell, rayon, and modal) by combining modelled fate factors in marine water and sediments with an EEF calculated from a hazardous concentration for 20% of species (HC20), using an SSD of EC10eq values. Taxonomically split SSDs were also obtained for further analysis of the mode of action of CMFs and microplastics. The HC20 for CMFs was not significantly different from that of MPs, suggesting similar physical effect mechanisms. Fate modelling indicated lower persistence for CMFs, resulting in CFs one to two orders of magnitude lower than those for SMFs. Computed CFs were applied in an LCA comparing the ecosystem quality impacts of a cotton and a polyester T-shirt while accounting for microfiber emissions. Results show that polyester emissions caused significant impacts compared to other lifecycle impacts, while cotton emissions did not. This work therefore provides the first comparative LCA of a cellulosic and a synthetic textile that considers impacts of microfiber emissions, and computes CFs compatible with different LCIA methods. Environmental Policy marine litter microfibers textile environmental footprint impact assessment Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management → Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7220630","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":493474012,"identity":"7d4f91bc-3a9d-4af6-bd39-b173622788f5","order_by":0,"name":"Nadim 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08:14:46","extension":"html","order_by":12,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":135902,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7220630/v2/238299e3632fe5a64be78b3a.html"},{"id":95682032,"identity":"a958de77-b44a-4042-8117-639e19f8f119","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-11 20:50:32","extension":"jpg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":322406,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFate factors (FF) in the marine environment for 10 µm microfibers, for an emission in marine water, shown on a log-scale. The sum represents the total time-integrated mass of microfibers in the marine environment (water and sediments combined).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure1.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7220630/v2/6e2eb609617ae03dfc40c041.jpg"},{"id":95682033,"identity":"9a2d689f-584d-40c2-8023-667064a66521","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-11 20:50:33","extension":"jpg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1010706,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSpecies Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) curves for aquatic species exposed to cellulosic microfibers (CMFs, in green) and microplastics (MPs, in blue) with their confidence interval (shaded areas). Each dot represents the average EC10eq for a specific species. The underlying data of the SSD curve of MPs are taken from Corella-Puertas et al. (2023).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure2.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7220630/v2/1c88da3accd6145868980ad7.jpg"},{"id":95799096,"identity":"c701f945-1053-4dac-8bd3-f594d8bc3cb2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-13 08:18:45","extension":"jpg","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1136428,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSpecies Sensitivity Distribution (SSD) curves split by taxonomic groups (vertebrates, invertebrates, and microalgae or aquatic plants) for microplastics (left) and cellulosic microfibers (right). The underlying data of the SSD curves of MPs are taken from Corella-Puertas et al. (2023).\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure3.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7220630/v2/1581812929481b2ba9cba641.jpg"},{"id":95682037,"identity":"7cdcc7d8-5983-4809-a1b9-cb687b18e783","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-11 20:50:33","extension":"jpg","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":729877,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMarine physical effects on biota endpoint characterization factors of microfibers (lines) for an emission in marine water. The microfiber’s diameter (1, 10, 100, 1000, 5000 μm) is represented by the marker size (e.g., smallest marker = 1 μm microfiber). Large diameters are mostly relevant in the case of regenerated cellulosic fibers. Underlying data can be found in Supplementary Information B.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure4.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7220630/v2/b2f368d5f9948fb6c815fd85.jpg"},{"id":95798495,"identity":"45b8798f-dc64-4a16-8ab6-319d706e9000","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-13 08:16:56","extension":"jpg","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1343220,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eImpacts on ecosystem quality of physical effects on biota of microfibers emitted over the life cycle of a T-shirt in Canada and in a low-income country (LIC), compared to other impact categories. Impacts of microfibers released are shown in red, for a use phase in Canada and in an LIC. Impacts of end-of-life fragmentation of microfibers are shown in dashed red. The percentage in red shows the contribution of microfibers emissions (use and end-of-life) to ecosystem quality damage.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"Figure5.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7220630/v2/da49059ca2009b2db4cfa63c.jpg"},{"id":100365612,"identity":"9ab31ef4-4ec7-4300-8847-8b1c37a56f24","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-16 07:55:25","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":4944774,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptCleanpreprint.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7220630/v2_covered_fd66928c-951c-46d7-a89e-d4744fa778d7.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"Microfibers in Life Cycle Assessment: Comparing the Physical Effects of Cellulosic and Synthetic Fibers via Characterization Factors Development","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"Polytechnique Montréal","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"marine litter, microfibers, textile, environmental footprint, impact assessment","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7220630/v2","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7220630/v2","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eTextile clothing is a significant contributor to microfiber pollution in aquatic ecosystems. A large portion of these emissions are cellulosic-based, either natural (e.g., cotton, linen) or semi-synthetic (e.g., viscose, lyocell), which can be ingested by aquatic organisms, posing harmful effects even at environmentally relevant concentrations. Studies comparing the effects of cellulosic and synthetic fibers report conflicting results: some suggest synthetic fibers are more harmful, others the opposite. However, despite their high environmental abundance, the lack of a species sensitivity distribution (SSD) for cellulosic microfibers (CMFs) has prevented comparison of their effects with synthetic microfibers (SMFs). Further, while SMFs have been integrated into Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) through characterization factors (CFs), equivalent CFs for CMFs are missing, due to a lack of an exposure and effect factor (EEF) specific to these fibers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe derived CFs for six CMFs (cotton, linen, viscose, lyocell, rayon, and modal) by combining modelled fate factors in marine water and sediments with an EEF calculated from a hazardous concentration for 20% of species (HC20), using an SSD of EC10eq values. Taxonomically split SSDs were also obtained for further analysis of the mode of action of CMFs and microplastics. The HC20 for CMFs was not significantly different from that of MPs, suggesting similar physical effect mechanisms. Fate modelling indicated lower persistence for CMFs, resulting in CFs one to two orders of magnitude lower than those for SMFs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComputed CFs were applied in an LCA comparing the ecosystem quality impacts of a cotton and a polyester T-shirt while accounting for microfiber emissions. Results show that polyester emissions caused significant impacts compared to other lifecycle impacts, while cotton emissions did not. This work therefore provides the first comparative LCA of a cellulosic and a synthetic textile that considers impacts of microfiber emissions, and computes CFs compatible with different LCIA methods.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Microfibers in Life Cycle Assessment: Comparing the Physical Effects of Cellulosic and Synthetic Fibers via Characterization Factors Development","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":2,"date":"2025-11-11 20:50:28","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7220630/v2","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}},{"code":1,"date":"2025-07-31 03:13:20","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7220630/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"812ddb34-b3cb-4b8e-8330-96dc8a17192f","owner":[],"postedDate":"November 11th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":52403822,"name":"Environmental Policy"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-01-12T18:13:24+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7220630","link":"https://doi.org/10.1093/inteam/vjag007","journal":{"identity":"integrated-environmental-assessment-and-management","isVorOnly":true,"title":"Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management"},"publishedOn":"2026-01-10 00:00:00","publishedOnDateReadable":"January 10th, 2026"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-11-11 20:50:28","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1093/inteam/vjag007","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/inteam/vjag007","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v2","identity":"rs-7220630","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7220630","identity":"rs-7220630","version":["v2"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}