The clothes on your back probably don’t
come to mind when you think about the biggest polluters on the planet,
but the clothing industry is a toxic one, nearing the top of the list.
Along with being a water intensive industry, the dyeing and treatment of
textiles uses many dangerous chemicals, such that these processes are
said to contribute 20% of industrial water pollution globally.1
As noted by Rita Kant of the University Institute of Fashion
Technology at Panjab University in India, color is a major reason why
people choose to buy certain articles of clothing. “No matter how
excellent its constitution, if unsuitably colored it is bound to be a
failure as a commercial fabric.”2
While there are ways to dye clothing that are safe and do not harm
the environment, the majority of textile dyes are toxic for virtually
all forms of life.
Why Textile Dyes Are so Dangerous
When clothing is dyed, about 80% of the chemicals stay on the fabric, while the rest go down the drain.3
Problems exist not only with the dyes themselves but also with the
chemicals used to fix or set the colors onto the fabrics. According to
Kant:4
“The textile dyeing and finishing industry has created a huge
pollution problem as it is one of the most chemically intensive
industries on earth, and the No. 1 polluter of clean water (after
agriculture). More than 3600 individual textile dyes are being
manufactured by the industry today.
The industry is using more than 8000 chemicals in various
processes of textile manufacture including dyeing and printing … Many of
these chemicals are poisonous and dam- aging to human health directly
or indirectly.”
Examples of some of the toxic chemicals used to dye textiles include the following:5
Sulphur
Naphthol
Vat dyes
Nitrates
Acetic acid
Heavy metals, including copper, arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury, nickel and cobalt
Formaldehyde-based dye fixing agents
Chlorinated stain removers
Hydrocarbon based softeners
Nonbiodegradable dyeing chemicals
Toxic Dye Chemicals Lead to Water Pollution
Millions of gallons of toxic effluent are discharged from textile
mills, often at high temperature and pH, which in and of themselves are
damaging. Combined with the chemicals, the wastewater can contaminate
drinking water and soil and even deplete the water of oxygen, harming
marine life. Kant explained:6
“It [mill effluent] prevents the penetration of sunlight
necessary for the process of photosynthesis. This interferes with the
oxygen transfer mechanism at air water interface. Depletion of dissolved
oxygen in water is the most serious effect of textile waste as
dissolved oxygen is very essential for marine life.
This also hinders with self purification process of water. In
addition when this effluent is allowed to flow in the fields it clogs
the pores of the soil resulting in loss of soil productivity. The
texture of soil gets hardened and penetration of roots is prevented.
The waste water that flows in the drains corrodes and incrustates
the sewerage pipes. If allowed to flow in drains and rivers it effects
the quality of drinking water in hand pumps making it unfit for human
consumption. It also leads to leakage in drains increasing their
maintenance cost. Such polluted water can be a breeding ground for
bacteria and viruses.”
Some of the heavy metals used in dyes are known to cause cancer and
accumulate in crops and fish via contaminated water and soil. Chronic
exposure to dye chemicals has also been linked to cancer and hormone
disruption in animals and humans.7
Azo dyes are among the most commonly used and the most toxic, as they
break down into cancer-causing amines. According to the Soil
Association, in their report “Thirsty for fashion?” even azo dyes in
very small quantities of less than 1 part per million in water may kill
beneficial microorganisms in soil such that it affects agricultural
productivity and may also be toxic to flora and fauna in water.8
Further, textile dyeing facilities tend to be located in developing
countries where regulations are lax and labor costs are low. Untreated or minimally treated wastewater
is typically discharged into nearby rivers, from where it spreads into
seas and oceans, traveling across the globe with the currents.
An estimated 40% of textile chemicals are discharged by China.9
According to Ecowatch, Indonesia is also struggling with the chemical
fallout of the garment industry. The Citarum River is now one of the
most heavily polluted rivers in the world, thanks to the congregation of
hundreds of textile factories along its shorelines.
When Greenpeace tested discharge from a textile plant along the
river, they found antimony, tributylphosphate and nonylphenol, a toxic
endocrine-disrupting surfactant.10
Kant further noted, “Some 72 toxic chemicals have been identified in
water solely from textile dyeing, 30 of which cannot be removed. This
represents an appalling environmental problem for the clothing and
textile manufacturers.”11
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Clothing Manufacturing Uses Staggering Amounts of Water
The clothing industry is not only polluting water but also using
massive quantities of it. Kant stated that the daily water consumption
of a textile mill that produces about 8,000 kilograms (17,637 pounds) of
fabric a day is about 1.6 million liters (422,675 gallons).12 Further, some of the greatest water usage comes from growing the cotton used to make the clothing.
The Soil Association stated that growing cotton accounts for 69% of
the water footprint of textile fiber production, with just 1 kilogram
(2.2 pounds) of cotton requiring 10,000 (2,641 gallons) to 20,000 liters
(5,283 gallons) of water to produce.13
Green America also noted that it takes 2,700 liters (713 gallons) of
water to grow enough cotton to make a T-shirt (and this doesn’t account
for the water used for dyeing and finishing).14
Cotton is also considered to be a “dirty” crop, requiring 200,000 tons
of pesticides and 8 million tons of fertilizers to grow, annually.15 The Soil Association added:16
“Cotton production uses 2.5% of the world’s cultivated land, yet
it accounts for 16% of all insecticides sold globally. It also accounts
for 4% of artificial nitrogen and phosphorus fertilisers used globally.
It is estimated that growing cotton requires 200,000 tonnes of
pesticides and 8 million tonnes of synthetic fertilisers every year.”
Problems With ‘Fast Fashion’
The fast fashion industry
dictates that you must buy the latest new clothing fad each season,
adding more garments to your probably already overstuffed closet.
Americans have increased how much clothing they buy due to this
consumption trend, with the average person bringing home more than 65
articles of clothing in 2016, according to the “Toxic Textiles” report
by Green America.17
At the same time, Americans throw away 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles each year.18
According to the U.S. EPA, textiles made up 6.1% of municipal solid
waste in 2015. Only 15.3%, or 2.5 million tons, was recycled while
landfills received 10.5 million tons of textiles in 2015, accounting for
7.6% of all municipal solid waste landfills.19
Even when clothing is recycled, Green America notes that “less than
1% of the resources required to make clothing is recaptured and reused
to create new clothing.”20
When you donate clothes, it’s also not a sustainable solution, as the
majority end up getting sold to textile “recyclers” and exported to
other countries.
The Ellen Macarthur Foundation’s Circular Fibres Initiative describes
the clothing industry as a linear system that is “ripe for disruption:”21
“The textiles system operates in an almost completely linear way:
large amounts of non-renewable resources are extracted to produce
clothes that are often used for only a short time, after which the
materials are mostly sent to landfill or incinerated. More than USD 500
billion of value is lost every year due to clothing underutilisation and
the lack of recycling.
Furthermore, this take-make-dispose model has numerous negative
environmental and societal impacts. For instance, total greenhouse gas
emissions from textiles production, at 1.2 billion tonnes annually, are
more than those of all international flights and maritime shipping
combined.
Hazardous substances affect the health of both textile workers
and wearers of clothes, and they escape into the environment. When
washed, some garments release plastic microbreads,
of which around half a million tonnes every year contribute to ocean
pollution – 16 times more than plastic microbeads from cosmetics. Trends
point to these negative impacts rising inexorably, with the potential
for catastrophic outcomes in future.”
Care What You Wear
We can all do our part to opt out of the demands of fast fashion and
minimize our support of this highly polluting industry by choosing
high-quality garments and using them until they wear out.
If you no longer need an item, try to give it to a friend or family
member who can use it. Also, choose to buy, sell or swap used clothing
items online or via thrift stores, and opt out of the fast-fashion mindset of buying excessive amounts of low-quality, “throwaway” clothes.
When shopping for clothing, make sure it’s organic, biodynamic and/or
GOTS-certified. Organic cotton certified by GOTS (Global Organic
Textile Standards) restricts the chemicals that can be used during
manufacturing, making them preferable options.
I’ve chosen to carry SITO (Soil Integrity for Textiles Organically) brand socks and underwear,
as SITO supports our global mission for improving fabric production and
putting an end to fast fashion. To learn more about our Dirt Shirt and
SITO brand products, see the video above — 100% of the profits from
every Dirt Shirt sold on our site will support the regenerative
agricultural movement.
The Mercola-RESET Biodynamic Organic Project is also currently
working with 55 certified organic farmers in India, with a mission of
converting them to biodynamic and planting biodynamic cotton on 110
acres of land this season.
RESET (Regenerate, Environment, Society, Economy, Textiles) will pay
all organic biodynamic farmers in our project a 25% premium over
conventional cotton prices, which will be paid directly to the farmers,
helping to stop the cycle of toxic clothing.
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