Toxic Textiles: Beware of Your Wardrobe
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
Episode 137
Toxic Textiles: Beware of Your Wardrobe
In our litigious society people commonly file lawsuits after an injury obtained while using a product. Much of the time the lawsuit is based on some version of “Well you did not warn me that could have happened therefore you are responsible and you owe me.”
And yet the one thing about our so called modern lifestyle that never ceases to amaze me is how many toxic substances we are exposed to everyday without our knowledge and without any warning.
Many of the chemicals we are routinely exposed to have never been tested for safe use in humans. And believe it or not, there are actually many toxic substances even in the clothes you wear. And that is the focus of E137 which is called Toxic Textiles: Beware of Your Wardrobe.
Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E137 which is called Toxic Textiles: Beware of Your Wardrobe.
In several of my past episodes I have pointed out some of the ridiculous things that we do that are not only unsustainable and wasteful but are also potentially harmful. But even if you pay attention to your daily life, eat organic and use natural products, it is concerning how many toxic chemicals we are exposed to right down to the very clothes you put on everyday.
In this episode I am first going to discuss some of the more common toxic chemicals used in the textile industry. Then I am going to give you nine tips to help limit or even avoid your personal exposure.
So let’s just start with a quick over view of the things we are exposed to everyday.
Whether you know it nor not, the average person is exposed to more than 700,000 toxic chemicals on a regular basis. On average each and everyone one of us uses about nine personal care products per day. This includes shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, creams, perfume, cosmetics, and lotions. That means we are exposed to approximately 129 unique chemicals daily.
In a recent study scientist found 109 chemicals in the human body, 55 of which had never been found in the human body before. Forty two of those chemicals were mystery chemicals that came from some unknown environmental source.
Our exposure to chemicals has become so common place that scientists now talk in terms of “chemical body burden.” Furthermore, you may be shocked to know that there is little oversight into the chemicals that go into personal care products and federal law regulating such chemical additives has changed very little over the last 85 years.
Yet in our litigious culture where people are quick to file a law suit due to lack of a warning label on a product we willing use toxic products every single day. While we can do little about many of the toxins we are routinely exposed to, we do have a choice about the products that we use and the clothes that we wear.
Every week it seems as if the media labels yet another consumable product as “bad for you.” This often involves food, water, medicine, and many other products. There is typically some reference to these products being riddled with carcinogens, hormone disrupters, forever chemicals, and a whole long list of other bad things. Yet no one ever mentions the fact that these same chemicals can be found in our wardrobes and are ubiquitous throughout the textile industry.
In fact the textile industry is responsible for 25% of global chemical output. Furthermore, due to the fact that certain textiles comprise a significant part of the industry we come in contact with numerous chemicals all day every day. And of course the heath implications of this is quite vast and unpredictable.
What is a chemical?
But what exactly is considered to be a chemical? Well, the basic definition is that a chemical is any substance with a defined composition, meaning it contains properties and characteristics that we can identify. What this means is that we come into contact with many naturally occurring chemicals every single day. In fact, all matter is made of chemicals and even water is considered a chemical.
Good versus bad chemicals
Obviously not all chemicals are bad. There are about 60 naturally occurring chemicals in the human body. Yet 96% of our body mass is comprised of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, and nitrogen. The remaining 4% is sort of a sparse sampling of the periodic table of elements.
Function matters but at what cost
But as far as the textile industry is concerned, and part of the blame also needs to be placed on the average consumer, function seems to matter most regardless of the cost to the environment and even ourselves.
There are about 8000 synthetic chemicals that are used in the textile industry during the manufacturing process. And since it is impossible to cover each one of these, I am going to stick to some of the most common ones. Each chemical I am going to mention has a specific function in the textile industry of course. But as you will soon see, there is always a cost associated to what we do. So, let’s quickly run down this list.
Flame retardants
The obvious function here is to keep clothes from burning. Flame retardants are actually required for children’s clothing. While this wonderful technology is very helpful, it also causes accumulative health affects such as neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption, infertility, and cancer.
Polyfluorionated substances such as fluoropolymer coatings
These chemicals are very popular due to their ability to resist water, oil, heat and stains. They are commonly used in raincoats, shoes, cosmetics, and any fabric labeled as water or stain resistant. Unfortunately these chemicals have found their way into our drinking water, are persistently present, and are known carcinogens. In fact, this class of chemicals belong to the notorious forever chemicals which means they take thousands of years to break down.
Lead and Chromium
Lead and Chromium are heavy metals that come in many different forms. They are commonly found in rocks, plant, animals and in the soil. Lead is also commonly found in natural fibers such as cotton, flax, and hemp. But in the textile manufacturing process, these chemicals are used to stabilize the color during the dyeing process. Even those these substances are naturally occurring, exposure to high concentrations such as persistent skin contact or ingestion, have been linked to cancer, brain damage, liver and kidney damage. And of course when clothing containing these chemicals are washed, it causes significant environmental contamination.
Phthalates
Phthalates is a class of chemical used in active wear, anti-odor clothings, printing inks, and processing. This class of chemicals are known to be carcinogens and have been linked to early death in American adults.
AZO dyes
AZO dyes make up approximately 65% of fabric colorants. These dyes are responsible for the vivid colors that can be seen in many textiles. However, these dyes quickly come off of most fabrics. When they break down they release chemicals called aromatic amines which can cause allergies and have been linked to cancer.
Volatile Organic Compounds
Volatile organic compounds, such as formaldehyde, ethylene glycol, benzene, and methylene chlorine are often added to clothing to make them wrinkle free and easy to care for. However, these chemicals are an enormous occupational hazard and can cause developmental and reproductive disorders, as well as liver and respiratory problems.
Pesticides
Now pesticides are something in particular that you need to watch out for. Although cotton is a natural material a tremendous amount of pesticides are used in the production process. And of course a lot of those pesticides remain in the material that you end up wearing.
So by now I hope you get the picture. I have only mentioned 7 classes of chemicals out of the 8,000 that are commonly used in the textile industry. That means this could be an endless discussion but hopefully you can see where I am headed with this.
The bottom line here is that despite our best efforts to eat organic and use natural products, we can still unknowingly be exposed to numerous toxin substances simple because of the clothes we wear. That begs the question of course of how do we actually stay safe?
How Can I Stay Safe?
So, I am going to give you nine tips that you can use today that will help you limit and avoid exposure to toxic chemicals in your clothing. Additionally I am going to have several links to articles in the reference section of the transcript so you can download that for further reading.
- Third party certifications
Looking for third party certifications is a good place to start. Things such as Global Organic Textile Standard (GotS), the EU Ecolabel, the Bluesign certification, and the Oeko-Tex Standard 100. The Earth day organization also sponsors Fashion for the Earth. It is their mission to educate consumers on safe and sustainable clothing. I have provided a link to this in the transcript of this episode.
Also, clothing from green companies listed in Green America’s National Green Pages is made from eco friendly fabrics with little to no use of toxic dyes and finishes.
2) Be cautious of performance fabrics
These fabrics are often labeled as wrinkle-free, water-proof, flame-retardant, or stain resistant. This usually means they have been treated with numerous chemicals in order to achieve this function. A good alternative would be to look for natural performance fabrics such as Tencel, which is a natural and renewable material that is naturally wrinkle-resistant and has natural cooling properties.
3) Avoid synthetic fabrics
As a general rule synthetic fabrics are going to expose you to more toxic substances so avoid them whenever possible.
4) Avoid clothing with a chemical smell
Any clothing with a strong chemical smell is a sure sign of toxic chemical finishes have been applied to the fabric. Formaldehyde is commonly used. If you notice this right way then simply don’t buy it.
If you have clothing at home that you have already purchased then fill your washing machine with enough water to cover the clothing and add 1 cup of baking soda. Soak the clothing overnight and agitate periodically. Repeat this process until no smell remains.
5) Wash your clothing before you use it and wash it right.
Washing your clothing before you use it is another great way to limit your exposure. But be sure to use a non-toxic laundry detergent. If in doubt make you own laundry detergent. We have been doing this for years. It is so easy to do and the home made stuff has superior cleaning power relative to any commercial product I have ever used. You can easily find recipes for laundry detergent online.
6) Buy used or second hand clothing.
Buying second hand clothing is not only a good sustainable option but it will also limit your exposure to chemicals simply because it has been washed many times prior to your use. Try your local thrift stores, eBay, and visit the Green Business Network directory for a list of eco friendly clothing websites.
7) Make you wardrobe last longer
If you can make your wardrobe last longer then you will have to purchase fewer clothes. You can do this by washing them less frequently. Many people will wear something once and then wash it. This is something I rarely do. It is also a good idea to hang clothes out to dry. Washing clothes too frequently and placing them in the dryer produces more wear and tear on the fabrics.
If your clothing gets torn then mend it. I spent an hour the other day sewing some of my clothing and was joking with Annette that living on the homestead was not always about fending off the bears and the lions. Sometimes it is about sewing.
I also joke a lot about having town clothes and cabin clothes. When I buy something new it is my town clothes until it becomes stained or torn. Then it becomes cabin clothes. Then I repair it and wear it until I start to look like a homeless person. That is when it gets thrown away.
8) Avoid dry cleaning if at all possible.
The dry cleaning process uses a known and very nasty carcinogen that can cause neurologic, reproductive, respiratory, developmental, kidney, skin and gastrointestinal toxicity. If you need to have something professionally cleaned go to nodryclean.com to find a business that uses less toxic chemicals.
9) Pay attention to clothing labels
My last tip is to simply pay attention to clothing labels. In other words, pay attention to where the clothing was actually manufactured. The list of the top 10 countries in the world for textile manufacturing includes countries such as China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Turkey, Indonesia, and Pakistan. The textile and exporting industries in these countries make billions of dollars a year. They depend on cheap labor and likely care very little about the use of toxic chemicals in their manufacturing process much less who gets exposed to those chemicals.
Think about it. We are purchasing clothing made in countries where the average monthly wage for a textile worker is often less than $200 USD per month. Not only are they taking advantage of cheap labor, they likely could care less about toxicity exposure for the laborers or environmental contamination. Then the clothing gets shipped around the world.
Conclusion
So, the bottom line here is that there are about 8000 synthetic chemicals commonly used to produce our clothes. Furthermore, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are over 40,000 chemicals used in consumer products in the United States and less than 1% have been rigorously tested for human safety.
It is no wonder that scientists now talk about our chemical burden and so-called mystery chemicals are commonly found in our bodies. Many of the most commonly used chemicals for textile manufacturing are known carcinogens. Yet there is little federal oversight of the use of such chemicals.
The recent pandemic certainly gave us some insight in our health and our health care system. But I think it also high lighted the fact that we are just getting sicker. At this point, 75% of Americans are over weight or obese, 50% of us are diabetic or pre diabetic, and a recent study revealed that 88% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy. Not only that, the rate of allergic, inflammatory, and autoimmune disease are grossly on the rise.
What we know is that diet and lifestyle factors account for 80% of chronic diseases in our culture. But despite our bad diet and lifestyle choices, a grossly under appreciated factor in what ails us is the constant exposure to environmental toxins. It should be no surprise that fertility rates are dropping and chronic diseases are on the rise.
Despite this there are so many things we can do to limit our exposure to such things and stay healthy right down to the clothes that you wear.
It has long been known that since the 1970’s humanity has been using far more resources than what the earth can replenish. Yet we live our lives happily married to our convenience and never give much thought to the resources we consume. Not only that we are constantly exposed to numerous toxic substances without even knowing it. I am always in disbelief when the EPA makes statements regarding “acceptable levels” of pesticides in our food.
Given the state of our modern world staying safe, being healthy, and making better choices can certainly be daunting at times. As I roll along with this podcast I am continually surprised at what I learn and all the things I can do to stay healthy and be sustainable. I feel as if I will never be done. This is because it is truly a journey and not just a destination. I know it is easy to get discouraged.
But I have to tell you that I would not have my life any other way. I have said before that I am far from perfect but I also strive to be off grid, live sustainably, use as few resources as possible and maximize the use of the resources I do have. That is the best that I can do in order to leave as little impact as possible.
Just remember that we always have choices and it is our choices that make changes.
Well folks I think that is all I have to say for this week. If you enjoy the episodes I produce then please take the time to leave me with a review because it is so helpful. Also if you want some further information or if you need to contact me then go to my website offgridlivingnews.com. The home page will link you to my blog, the podcast, and my contact page. That contact page also has links to my social media so feel free to take advantage of that as well.
Until my next episode be sure to keep life simple, stay safe, be healthy, and be sustainable. Until next week, this is your host Patrick signing off. Always remember to live sustainably because this is now we build a better future.
Patrick
References
Seven Tips for Less Toxic Clothing
Patrick
