WHY DETOX FASHION?

Being fashionable comes at a cost. The creation of our materials can endanger the environment and put human lives at risk. It’s a reality that we can no longer ignore.

As we dig into the issue about harmful chemicals in apparel, it is apparent that the clothing we purchase can potentially be harmful to people, while also destroying the environment. However, tragically the workers who make our clothes and the communities surrounding these manufacturing facilities bear the greatest health burden.

CONSUMER EXPOSURE

Think about your morning routine.

You wake up, shower, brush your teeth and stand in front of your closet to figure out what to wear. But how often do you take a step back to consider what those clothes are really made of?

The sad truth is that most of us know next to nothing about the dozens of toxic chemicals lurking within our everyday clothing.

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), phthalates, heavy metals, formaldehyde, sensitizers and flame retardants are just some of the many chemicals used in the apparel manufacturing process.

These can be harmful to consumers and in some cases, can remain in our clothing when the items reach store shelves.

ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE

Just how bad is fashion for the planet?

Bad ... really bad.

It doesn’t help that fashion has a long and complicated supply chain. Let’s start with the agricultural component. For example, cotton, is the world’s single largest pesticide-consuming crop. Globally, it uses 24% of all insecticides and 11% of all pesticides, which negatively impacts farmers, agriculture and neighboring communities.

A quarter of the chemicals produced in the world are used to manufacture textiles. While many factories do not have adequate wastewater treatment facilities in place, let alone, a chemical management policy, wastewater often flows unfiltered into local waterways and downstream, polluting our oceans.

According to Greenpeace, hazardous chemical pollutants in our clothing such as PFCs, have been found in nearly every corner of the globe. These are compounds that are used to make our outdoor gear waterproof.

During production, tiny particles from their clothing not only end up in nearby bodies of water, but are dispersed across the globe as gases or fine particulate matter that travels with the wind and eventually returns back to earth. These chemicals do not decompose in nature and remain for centuries after their release in rivers, lakes and oceans.

Once in the environment, they can accumulate in the food chain and through these, into our human bodies.

WORKER EXPOSURE

Many very harmful chemicals have been used in textile processing, especially in dyeing, printing and finishing, and although many brands and legislators have introduced standards aimed at eliminating the deliberate use of the most harmful substances and reducing worker exposure, there is still much work to do in terms of worker safety.

Workers are frequently exposed to a variety of solids, dusts, liquids, aerosols, fumes and gases as they undertake the processes to manufacture textiles and it is important that they are protected.

Chemicals, including cancer causing carcinogens, reproductive toxins, skin irritants and hormone disrupting chemicals are still in use in some parts of the industry and, in addition to the workers who handle chemicals in large quantities, garment workers can be exposed if residues remain on the fabrics.

Without chemical input and exposure controls, workers can suffer terrible harm. Dye workers have historically suffered from high rates of bladder cancer due to carcinogenic azo amines and, although the problem is recognized and legislation has reduced the use of problematic dyes with which they are associated, the issue still has not been eradicated.

Sandblasting of denim to create a worn or faded jean look creates small particles that cause the lung disease silicosis. This has resulted in many global brands implementing a ban. However, as closer attention is paid to the negative effects of its replacement technology, potassium permanganate spay, they have found that it causes severe skin and lung irritation for unprotected workers. In looking for solutions, it is necessary to ensure sandblasting doesn’t make a come-back.

Solvent fumes from some finishing applications and formaldehyde from the application of easy-care resins can promote acute and chronic symptoms if extraction and ventilation systems are inadequate.

We can’t make clothes without chemicals, but care must be taken with basic processing aids such as strong acids and alkalis, as they can cause severe burns - and even seemingly benign chemicals can cause problems if they are in the ‘wrong’ form. Simple dusts from yarn spinning, cotton bio-polishing or weighing of basic process chemicals can cause immediate breathing problems and longer term damage if exposure is repeated.

Above all, everyone should expect their clothes to be safe when they wear them and should expect those who make them to be provided with safe working conditions. That means a combination of avoiding the deliberate use of chemicals that are known to be problematic and providing appropriate exposure controls. While this “know how” exists, were the workers who made your clothes adequately protected?