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Study questions whether natural fibres biodegrade quickly

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Cotton and wool fibres found to be in lake sediments for over a century in new research challenging how quickly they biodegrade

In the study, academics led by Loughborough University and supported by Keele University used a lead dated core recovered from Rudyard Lake, Staffordshire, located downstream from a historic centre of UK textile manufacture.

LOUGHBOROUGH – Textile fibres including cotton and wool have been found preserved in lake sediments for up to 150 years in a new UK study which challenges assumptions that natural fibres quickly biodegrade in the environment.

Researchers at Loughborough University recovered textile fibres from a sediment record spanning 1876 to 2022 at Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire, located downstream from a historic centre of UK textile manufacture.

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