When garments made from synthetic materials wear, due to use and washing, microplastic fibres are released. Wastewater treatment plants remove 50 to 90 per cent of these microplastic fibres.

For a successful circular economy, it is essential to improve the conditions in which materials and products are recycled once they have reached the end of their life cycle.

Research by RIVM shows that the participants in the so-called tROM project, their supervisors and other people involved may have been exposed to chromium-6.