EcoCult blog which was started in 2013, has become an authority on sustainable fashion. For the last decade, it has been covering the dirty side of fast fashion — from its contribution to the climate crisis and greenwashing to multi-level marketing schemes.
EcoCult discovered that harmful chemicals in fashion, such as formaldehyde and chromium, are both carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting polyfluoroalkyl compounds (commonly known as PFAS, or “forever chemicals”) connected to infertility and other health problems.
Flight attendants at numerous major airlines reported rashes, hair loss, exhaustion, cognitive fog, heart palpitations, and difficulty breathing. The attendants’ reactions were linked by Harvard University researchers to lengthy exposures to a mix of chemicals such as anti-wrinkle and anti-stain resins and dispersion dyes, which may seep into the skin through perspiration.
There’s no ingredient list in fashion. If you’re allergic to nickel, or disperse dyes, or formaldehyde, you can avoid it in beauty products, cleaning products, food products — but not in fashion.
The toxins’ impact of these chemicals on textile workers and their communities have been thoroughly established. Despite the potential danger, nations worldwide have done nothing to safeguard consumers against them.
Reference- Fast Company, Clean Technica, EcoCult Blog, Nexus Media, Apparel Insider, EPA website