Can shopping be harmful to your health? Clothing manufacturers in Bangladesh and China use a toxic synthetic hormone in their dyeing process, which showed up in samples of products taken from top brands:
Traces of toxic chemicals harmful to the environment and to human health have been detected in products made by 14 top clothing manufacturers, Greenpeace said Tuesday.
Samples of clothing from top brands including Adidas, Uniqlo, Calvin Klein, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, Lacoste, Converse and Ralph Lauren were found to be tainted with the chemicals, known as nonylphenol ethoxylates, the watchdog said at the launch of its report "Dirty Laundry 2".
Greenpeace campaigner Li Yifang said that nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), commonly used as detergents in industries including the production of natural and synthetic textiles, were detected in two-thirds of the samples the group tested.
The report made the following conclusions:
- The problem of toxic pollution from textile manufacturing is pervasive and extensive across producer countries. The textile industry is responsible for unknown but potentially significant quantities of hazardous chemicals such as nonylphenol accumulating in the aquatic environment.
- Irrespective of statements about corporate responsibility, the results presented in this study indicate that major clothing brands currently do not have adequate policies, practices or control over their supply chains in respect of the use of hazardous chemicals. They must do more to prevent toxic chemicals from reaching the environment in both textile-producing countries and countries where their products are sold. The problem is by no means limited to major brands but these companies have significant leverage over their suppliers. Major brands also have a special responsibility to ensure that their overall environmental policies and performance are consistent with the brand values they espouse. This is something they are currently failing to achieve.
- Major clothing brands are making consumers of their clothing unwitting contributors to increasing levels of hazardous nonlyphenol in the environments of countries where the products are sold, including where the parent groups of chemicals (the NPEs) have been banned. This is because washing will release residual levels of NPEs in clothing into sewage systems, and ultimately contribute to increasing levels of NP in the environment. Although the level of NPEs in any given article of clothing is small the sheer volume of clothing being sold and subsequently washed means that the total quantities being released may be substantial.
In 2008, a Swedish conservation group found a similar result:
A chemical that can cause birth defects and cancer has been found in T-shirts that have been sold in Sweden, an environmental group says.
Swedish Society for Nature Conservation officials say that traces of the chemical nonylphenol ethoxylates, typically used for textile washing, were found in 19 of 20 T-shirts tested by the group, The Local said.
SSNC head Mikael Karlsson said in a statement that nonylpenol, a byproduct of the chemical, has been found to cause hormonal changes in humans and is toxic to marine life.
Nonylphenol was also detected in a 2003 Cape Cod study of home environments:
"The surprising finding was how many chemicals we found in every house,'' Spengler said. "They all had more than 20 compounds and some of the compounds are banned substances. In addition we measured 30 compounds never reported in residential settings before.''
One of those unreported chemical compounds is 4-nonylphenol, an alkylphenol found at significant levels in every home sampled. Laundry detergents, disinfecting cleaners, all-purpose cleaners, hair-coloring and other hair care products and spermicides contain this product.
The chemical can mimic female estrogen hormones, and can interact and disrupt the endocrine systems of humans and wildlife, interfering with reproduction and causing increased risk of birth defects and breast, prostate and testicular cancers.