Do You Know What Toxic Chemicals Lurk in Your Clothing?

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Do You Know What Toxic Chemicals Lurk in Your Clothing?

_http://www.naturalnews.com/z022803.html_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/z022803.html)

 

by Cathy Sherman _(see all articles by this author)_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/Author74.html)

 

 

(NaturalNews) You know that if you eat that sugar-filled cookie, it might

spike your insulin, and if you put on cosmetics with chemicals in them, they

will probably end up in your blood. But have you ever thought twice about

putting on your favorite T-shirt, or snuggling into your cotton sheets?

 

A growing number of parents are demanding organic cotton clothing and

diapers for their babies. Many don't stop with clothing, but have furnished

their

homes with organic flooring or carpeting, organic mattresses, organic linens,

organic window coverings etc. Are they fanatics or do they have scientific

evidence to support their lifestyle changes?

 

Cotton has long been considered by consumers to be the most natural, healthy

fabric and they have made it the most popular clothing material. It has been

easy to forget that cotton is a crop and as such, it is subject to the same

issues as other _crops_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/crops.html) normally

considered as food. The last time you drove by a cotton field, did you consider

that many of the foods you eat contain a by-product of this very plant?

 

The cotton plant is comprised of 40% fiber and 60% seed by weight. Once

separated in the gin, the fibers go to textile mills, while the seed and

various

ginning by-products are used for animal feed and human food. For humans this

is in the form of cottonseed oil, a very common ingredient in processed

foods. The cotton _seeds_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/seeds.html) are also used

in

grain for cattle, which indirectly does enter the food chain in meat and

dairy products.

 

The concerns regarding health stem from the fact that though cotton uses

only 2.4% of the world's

agricultural acreage, its cultivation involves 25% of the world's pesticide

use, more than any other crop. Most of these are insecticides, but fungicide

is another fraction of the total. Also, consider that it takes about

one-third of a pound of pesticides and _fertilizers_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/fertilizers.html) to grow enough conventional

cotton for just one T-shirt.

 

In many cases, these poisonous chemicals are applied by spraying from the

air, which means they can be

carried and spread by the wind and breathed by people living nearby. It

probably is no coincidence that Texans near Lubbock have a high _cancer_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/cancer.html) rate, while Lubbock happens to be the

world's largest area of cotton cultivation.

 

The chemicals used in cotton production don't end with cultivation. As an

aid in harvesting, herbicides are used to defoliate the plants, making picking

easier. Producing a textile from the plants involves more chemicals in the

process of bleaching, sizing, dying, straightening, shrink reduction, stain and

odor resistance, fireproofing, mothproofing, and static- and

wrinkle-reduction. Some of these chemicals are applied with heat, thus bonding

them to the

cotton fibers.

 

Several washings are done throughout the process, but some of the softeners

and _detergents_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/detergents.html) leave a residue

that will not totally be removed from the final product. Chemicals often

used for finishing include _formaldehyde_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/formaldehyde.html) , caustic soda, sulfuric acid,

bromines, urea resins, sulfonamides,

halogens, and bromines. Some imported clothes are now impregnated with

long-lasting disinfectants which are very hard to remove, and whose smell gives

them

away.

 

These and the other chemical residues affect people with Multiple Chemical

Sensitivities. Also, people have developed allergic reactions, such as hives,

to formaldehyde through skin contact with solutions on durable-press clothing

containing formaldehyde. Allergic Contact Dermatitis develops after repeated

allergen exposure to dyes and other chemicals and metals. According to a

British allergy website, small amounts of perspiration can separate out

allergens through several layers of clothing, and leather shoe dyes can leach

through

socks.

 

European researchers found antimony, a fire-retardant chemical used in some

crib mattresses, leaches through the mattress; they connected this finding to

SIDS deaths. The livers of autopsied infants were also found to contain high

amounts of antimony. Europe is moving away from _flame retardants_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/flame_retardants.html) and requires them to be

proven

safe before use. Yet US laws require flame retardants be applied to many kinds

of children's clothing.

 

One study, which included an 18-month old baby, found high levels of flame

retardants in the subjects' blood. The results were two to three times the

levels that are known to cause neurological damage in rats.

 

Though many people believe that chemicals can leach from clothing into the

body through the skin, there is no research to prove this. Sodium

Tripolyphosphate, a chemical used in some laundry detergents, is claimed to be

easily

absorbed through the skin from clothes, but this was never proven.

 

A chemist will say that it is impossible for chemicals to transfer through

the skin from dry clothing.

Chemicals enter the skin through the process of osmosis, which requires a

moist medium in order for this to occur. Studies are needed to determine if

sweat or urine in wet diapers constitute enough of that medium.

 

Possibly the mechanism by which the chemicals enter the body is through

off-gassing of the chemical which is then breathed in. There have been no real

studies proving this either. The baby in the previously-cited study crawled on

a carpeted floor. Carpeting usually contains flame retardants.

 

One thing is clear though: organically produced cotton has few of the issues

of conventional cotton. Not only are GMO seeds and chemical _pesticides_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/pesticides.html) not used, but usually the picking

is done by hand. Instead of using chemicals to defoliate for easier

harvesting, the organic grower relies mostly on the seasonal freeze to defoliate

the

plants.

 

Synthetic fertilizers are not used, in favor of crop rotation, which

increases the organic matter in the soil. Weeds are removed and controlled by

hand

and by hoeing. Pest control is achieved by bringing in natural predators,

using beneficial _insects_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/insects.html) and

certain

trap crops which lure insects away.

 

The processing of the organic fibers uses different procedures in milling

and in the textile

manufacturing. Chemical finishes for shrink resistance, permanent press etc.

are not applied or are minimal, and use of natural rather than synthetic

dyes are encouraged by co-ops and trade organizations.

 

Therefore, at this time we cannot say that the non-organic cotton shirts and

pajamas you wear and the non-organic sheets you sleep on are toxic. However,

we do know that their cultivation is toxic to the field workers. They have a

high rate of cancer and death from suicide.

 

We can state that the by-products of conventional cotton that appear in our

food have been subjected to toxins in their production. We can say that their

production pollutes rivers and soil and causes other environmental damage.

 

So you don't have to throw away all of your conventional cotton clothing

just yet, unless it causes an

allergic reaction. However, we all might do well to request that future

clothing and linen purchases of cotton be of the organic variety. If the demand

increases, more fields will be raised organically, resulting in health

benefits for the environment and the workers and residents near the fields, as

well

as for all of us who consume cottonseed oil in foods.

 

What's in your clothing today? Be informed; it does make a difference.

 

For further information:

 

Organic Cotton - Am I Bothered?

_http://ezinearticles.com/?Organic-Cotton---Am-I-Bothered? & id=650235_

(http://ezinearticles.com/?Organic-Cotton---Am-I-Bothered? & id=650235)

 

Care What You Wear: Facts on Cotton & Clothing Production

Cotton: Facts Behind the Fiber (Part One)

_http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_6347.cfm_

(http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_6347.cfm)

 

Iontophoresis in dermatology

Iontophoresis is the process of increasing the penetration of drugs into the

skin by application of an electric current. The drug is applied under an

electrode of the same charge as the drug, and a return electrode opposite in

charge to the drug is placed at a neutral site on the body surface. Electrical

energy assists the movement of ions across the skin using the principle " like

charges repel each other and opposite charges attract " . In this article, we

discuss the mechanism, principles, factors influencing iontophoresis and its

application for various dermatological conditions.

_http://www.bioline.org.br/request?dv05081_

(http://www.bioline.org.br/request?dv05081)

 

cadmium

Cadmium is a heavy metal that occurs naturally in some soils and rocks. It

is known to cause cancer in humans. Cadmium levels build up in the body over

time and remain in the body.

_http://www.checnet.org/healthehouse/chemicals/chemicals-detail2.asp?Main_ID=3

69_

(http://www.checnet.org/healthehouse/chemicals/chemicals-detail2.asp?Main_ID=369\

)

 

About Clothes for a Change (CFAC)

_http://www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/index.cfm_

(http://www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/index.cfm)