Can inhaling microplastics from synthetic fabrics cause lung scarring?

What's actually in it

Synthetic clothes made from polyester, nylon, and acrylic shed tiny plastic fibers every time you wear, wash, or fold them. These fibers float in the air inside your home. You breathe them in without knowing it. Dryers, closets, and bedrooms with synthetic bedding tend to have the highest levels of airborne plastic fibers.

The smallest particles, called nanoplastics, are light enough to stay in the air for hours and small enough to reach deep into your lungs.

What the research says

A 2026 study in Environ Sci Technol compared how different sizes and types of plastic particles affect the lungs. The researchers tested microplastics and nanoplastics made from several common polymers, including the types found in clothing.

Both sizes caused pulmonary fibrosis, which is scarring of the lung tissue. Scarred lungs can't expand fully, which makes breathing harder over time. But nanoplastics did more damage per dose than larger microplastics. Their tiny size let them burrow deeper into lung tissue and trigger a stronger inflammatory response.

The study also found that the type of plastic mattered. Some polymers caused more scarring than others, even at the same size. That means some synthetic fabrics pose a bigger lung risk than others.

You can lower your exposure by choosing natural fiber clothing like cotton, linen, or wool. Running an air purifier with a HEPA filter in your bedroom also helps catch airborne fibers before you breathe them in.