Reduced dispersibility of flushable wet wipes after wet storage

Abstract Scientific publications and newsfeeds recently focused on flushable wet wipes and their role in sewage system blockages. It is stated that although products are marked as flushable, they do not disintegrate after being disposed of via the toilet. In this work it is shown that wetlaid hydroe...

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Autores principales:	Thomas Harter, Ingo Bernt, Stefanie Winkler, Ulrich Hirn
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/a34b3d1541064e48b622e75a875de150
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:a34b3d1541064e48b622e75a875de1502021-12-02T14:26:20ZReduced dispersibility of flushable wet wipes after wet storage10.1038/s41598-021-86971-z2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/a34b3d1541064e48b622e75a875de1502021-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86971-zhttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Scientific publications and newsfeeds recently focused on flushable wet wipes and their role in sewage system blockages. It is stated that although products are marked as flushable, they do not disintegrate after being disposed of via the toilet. In this work it is shown that wetlaid hydroentangled wet wipes lose their initially good dispersive properties during their storage in wet condition. As a consequence, we are suggesting to add tests after defined times of wet storage when assessing the flushability of wet wipes. Loss of dispersibility is found for both, wet wipes from industrial production and wipes produced on pilot facilities. We found it quite surprising that the wet wipes’ dispersibility is deteriorating after storage in exactly the same liquid they are dispersed in, i.e. water. This is probably why the effect of wet storage has not been investigated earlier. It is demonstrated that the deteriorating dispersibility of these wipes is linked to the used type of short cellulosic fibres — only wipes containing unbleached softwood pulp as short fibre component were preserving good dispersibility during wet storage. Possible mechanisms that might be responsible are discussed, e.g. long term fiber swelling causing a tightening of the fiber network, or surface interdiffusion.Thomas HarterIngo BerntStefanie WinklerUlrich HirnNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Thomas Harter Ingo Bernt Stefanie Winkler Ulrich Hirn Reduced dispersibility of flushable wet wipes after wet storage
description	Abstract Scientific publications and newsfeeds recently focused on flushable wet wipes and their role in sewage system blockages. It is stated that although products are marked as flushable, they do not disintegrate after being disposed of via the toilet. In this work it is shown that wetlaid hydroentangled wet wipes lose their initially good dispersive properties during their storage in wet condition. As a consequence, we are suggesting to add tests after defined times of wet storage when assessing the flushability of wet wipes. Loss of dispersibility is found for both, wet wipes from industrial production and wipes produced on pilot facilities. We found it quite surprising that the wet wipes’ dispersibility is deteriorating after storage in exactly the same liquid they are dispersed in, i.e. water. This is probably why the effect of wet storage has not been investigated earlier. It is demonstrated that the deteriorating dispersibility of these wipes is linked to the used type of short cellulosic fibres — only wipes containing unbleached softwood pulp as short fibre component were preserving good dispersibility during wet storage. Possible mechanisms that might be responsible are discussed, e.g. long term fiber swelling causing a tightening of the fiber network, or surface interdiffusion.
format	article
author	Thomas Harter Ingo Bernt Stefanie Winkler Ulrich Hirn
author_facet	Thomas Harter Ingo Bernt Stefanie Winkler Ulrich Hirn
author_sort	Thomas Harter
title	Reduced dispersibility of flushable wet wipes after wet storage
title_short	Reduced dispersibility of flushable wet wipes after wet storage
title_full	Reduced dispersibility of flushable wet wipes after wet storage
title_fullStr	Reduced dispersibility of flushable wet wipes after wet storage
title_full_unstemmed	Reduced dispersibility of flushable wet wipes after wet storage
title_sort	reduced dispersibility of flushable wet wipes after wet storage
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/a34b3d1541064e48b622e75a875de150
work_keys_str_mv	AT thomasharter reduceddispersibilityofflushablewetwipesafterwetstorage AT ingobernt reduceddispersibilityofflushablewetwipesafterwetstorage AT stefaniewinkler reduceddispersibilityofflushablewetwipesafterwetstorage AT ulrichhirn reduceddispersibilityofflushablewetwipesafterwetstorage
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Reduced dispersibility of flushable wet wipes after wet storage

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