A tough, lightweight, elastic synthetic material that are fashioned into fibers, filaments, bristles, or sheets and used especially in textiles and plastics.
Nylon is a polymer derived from petroleum or crude oil — a plastic with super-long, heavy molecules built up of short, endlessly repeating sections of atoms, just like a heavy metal chain is made of ever-repeating links. Nylon is not actually one, single substance but the name given to a whole family of very similar materials called polyamides.
Like other synthetic fibre (such as polyester, rayon or elastane) nylon can cause contact dermatitis – a red, itchy rash caused by direct contact with a substance or an allergic reaction to it.
Nylon does not biodegrade easily – once you no longer have a need for your torn stockings or old toothbrush, it sits in a landfill for at least 30 years.
Nylon has several other direct environmental impacts:
Greenhouse gases – producing nylon creates nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Water – manufacturing nylon is a very thirsty process; large amounts of water are used for cooling the fibres, which can be a source of environmental contamination and pollution.
Energy – manufacturing nylon is a very energy-hungry process, which contributes to environmental degradation and global warming.
Nylon, together with polyester, acrylic, and other synthetic fibers — all of which are forms of plastic — are now about 60 percent of the material that makes up our clothes worldwide.
These fibers contribute to ocean plastic pollution in a subtle but pervasive way: The fabrics they make — along with synthetic-natural blends — leach into the environment just by being washed. Estimates vary, but it’s possible that a single load of laundry could release hundreds of thousands of fibers from our clothes into the water supply.
And these tiny fibers — less than 5 millimeters in length, with diameters measured in micrometers (one-thousandth of a millimeter) — can eventually reach the ocean. There, they’re adding to the microplastic pollution that’s accumulating in the food chain and being ingested by all sorts of marine wildlife, and even us. Most of the plastic that’s in the ocean, in terms of number of pieces, is not in the form of whole products like cups or straws, but instead broken-down shreds of plastic.
