Anyone else recognise this saying? My parents used it a lot while I was growing up when I’d taken a course of action that, while not ideal, wasn’t going to cause any lasting damage.

In the case of silver nanoparticles in textiles, however, it seems it probably will come out in the wash – disappear down our domestic waste pipes and into our environment, with no guarantee that lasting damage won’t be done.

It has been predicted that 12-49 per cent of the silver nanoparticles produced globally end up in textiles, as antimicrobials in socks for example. And in a first step towards figuring out whether this practice poses an environmental risk, Bernd Nowack and his team at EMPA in Switzerland have assessed whether or not these particles remain embedded in the textiles when they are washed in a washing machine.

Their key finding was that different textiles behave very differently, some release 20 per cent of their silver particles in the first wash after purchase where as others release hardly anything. The conclusion the team has drawn from this is that how the manufacturers have embedded the particles is very important. ‘Companies have possibilities to design safe nanotextiles that release only small amounts of silver,’ said Nowack.

Other, more predictable, findings include that less particles are released the second time the item of clothing is washed and that the mechanical stress of the washing machine aids their release.

As well as trying to get textile companies to change their ways, the team also plan to consider both the environmental fate and toxicology of the released particles.

Until they do, maybe I should be thinking about more than my nose before buying these sweet-smelling socks next time.

To learn more: the work was published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology in September last year, and was well covered by the press at the time (see here, here and here).

Nina Notman