<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&searchterm=clothing&search_group=&horizontal=on&orient=&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&commercial_ok=&color=&show_color_wheel=1#id=83928172&src=0f1023f32d8a4bb3da4b5e1a372a0ac5-1-2">Dmitry Kalinovsky</a>/Shutterstock
Lots of people worry about their clothing. But they probably don’t worry about whether it’s toxic. Greenpeace International’s newest research indicates that you probably should.
Greenpeace tested 141 items of clothing from 29 countries, and found that 89 contained nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), which are toxic, bioaccumulative chemicals that have been identified as hormone disruptors. They also found high levels of phthalates in four pieces of clothing, and amines from azo dyes that have been identified as carcinogens. The clothing came from major international brands, including Armani, Levi’s and Zara. This was a follow up to an August 2011 report that found similarly distressing chemicals in clothing.
I read the report yesterday while wearing a Zara shirt and Levi’s jeans. So yeah, not very reassuring.
Other brands Greenpeace IDed as including harmful chemicals: Benetton, Diesel, Esprit, Gap, H&M, Victoria’s Secret, Mango, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. See the full “Toxic Threads” report here.
