20% of industrial pollution comes from the textile manufacturing process. Over 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw materials into clothing. Workers come in direct contact with these chemicals—often without adequate safety protections—and are at risk of contracting deadly diseases.
The fashion industry is a highly polluting industry.
And while most consumers know about how fast fashion is negatively affecting workers, our shopping habits, and our landfills, there are other environmental and social issues that need to be addressed too.
The WHO estimates that 20% of industrial water pollution comes textile manufacturing, which releases dyes and other chemicals into waterways in manufacturing countries.
Over 8,000 chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles. The industry uses around 43 million tons of chemicals to dye and treat our clothing. There isn't widespread transparency on what chemicals are being used - nor their effects on human health and the environment. Workers work with these chemicals - and are not always provided with adequate safety protection, exposing them to increased risks of diseases.
Meanwhile, rivers in manufacturing countries are heavily polluted, becoming so toxic that they cannot sustain wildlife. Communities that rely on these bodies of water are at high risk of cancer and other diseases.
And once clothes hit our stores, residual chemicals can affect consumer health too. Odor-wicking, anti-wrinkle, flame resistant - our clothes are treated with chemicals to make them this way.
Workers should not be risking their lives to make our clothes. Environments and communities should not be polluted to satisfy our shopping needs. And clean clothes should be readily accessible to all consumers, not just those who can afford to pay a premium on clothing. That's why Green America and our partners are calling on major American apparel companies to clean up their act and remove Toxic Textiles from their supply chain.
We're calling on companies, starting with Carter's to adopt strong chemical management policies, starting by disclosing what chemicals they're using to make our clothes - and their plans for restricting and replacing the most toxic chemicals. And once that happens, we'll keep pushing them to continue adopting policies that protect workers, the environment, and consumers.
Toxic Textiles, our new report, dives into the different social and environmental impacts our clothes have - and then examines what major American companies are (and aren't) doing to address these issues. You can check out our 2019 scorecard here.
The fashion industry is a highly polluting industry. Experts estimate that over 8,000 chemicals are used by the textile industry, and there isn’t enough transparency about what chemicals are being used by specific companies or in specific garments.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 20% of industrial water pollution comes from the textile manufacturing industry. Wastewater containing the chemicals and dyes used in manufacturing textiles end up in local water sources; in some manufacturing countries, local water sources are so polluted by chemicals that they can no longer sustain wildlife. In some places, locals can tell what is the ‘It’ color of the year based on what color the local river source is.
Meanwhile, workers are exposed to toxic chemicals while bleaching, dyeing, and applying finishing treatments to textiles that will become clothes.
Chemicals in clothing not only affect workers, communities, and environments in manufacturing countries, residual chemicals can also affect consumer health as well.
The Toxic Textiles campaign is putting the spotlight on major American apparel companies to get them to come clean about what chemicals they’re using and how they plan on cleaning up their supply chain. We believe that clean clothes should be available to all consumers – not just consumers who can afford to buy clothing at a premium price point.
Safer alternatives and better wastewater management technology are already available – but companies and factories have little incentive to use them when they can hide the toxins lurking in their clothes. Meanwhile, there are industry initiatives that are already helping companies adopt chemical management policies. We need more companies to take part in these initiatives.
Thousands of chemicals and dyes are used to turn raw materials into our clothes. There currently isn’t enough transparency or understanding of all of the different chemicals and chemical formulations that are being used, nor their impacts on human and environmental health. Regulation like Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) in the European Union is designed to help identify more of the chemicals and chemical formulations that are being used by the industry. We need similar disclosure here in the US, but since our national government is failing to protect workers and the public, we need to demand transparency directly from companies.
We're asking Carter's to adopt a strong, public chemical management policy that will protect workers and consumers, starting by disclosing what chemicals are being used in its supply chain. We also want Carter's to develop plans to restrict/…
We're asking Carter's to adopt a strong, public chemical management policy that will protect workers and consumers, starting by disclosing what chemicals are being used in its supply chain. We also want Carter's to develop plans to restrict/replace the most toxic chemicals with safer…
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