Toxic clothing

This bit of news is a nice transition from my time in fashion-oriented Italy back to policy-oriented Washington D.C.  The fashion industry issued to being called frivolous; one wonders how it will react to being called toxic.  Greenpeace means this literally.  Earlier this week, the environmental organization staged a fashion show in Beijing and released a report entitled “Toxic Threads: The Big Fashion Stitch-Up.”  I love the cover.

 The publication reports the results of chemical analyses of 141 clothing items from 20 global companies manufactured in 18 different countries.  The clothing included jeans, slacks, t-shirts, dresses and underwear.

In many cases analysts found high levels of cancer-causing phthalates and hormone-affecting nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs).  The U.S. has banned phthalates from use in clothing and children’s toys.  The European Union has restricted use of NPEs, which are lethal for aquatic animals.  Offenders included Giorgio Armani, Calvin Klein and Zara.  The report praised H&M and Levi’s for efforts to detoxify their clothing.

The report doesn’t mention J. Crew or Patagonia, but, of the things I'm wearing right now, at least I know my jeans are trying to be toxin free.