Environment

Wash, rinse, pollute, repeat

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By CHLOE KIPLE
Capital News Service
LANSING — A new study shows that while we clean our clothes we dirty waterways like the Great Lakes. Every load of laundry produces microfibers, or tiny pieces of clothing that shed during washing. Wastewater treatment plants can’t break them down, so they end up in lakes, rivers and other bodies of water. Once they’re in the water, aquatic animals can mistake the fibers for food. And that’s not a good thing.