You are what you wear by O Ecotextiles.
I don’t mean like in “the clothes make the man” kind of way,
but in the “our bodies absorb chemicals found in our environment” kind of way.
The new science of biomonitoring has enabled scientists to
take the guesswork out of the effects of toxic exposure in blood, urine, breast
milk, semen and all the other parts of us where chemicals tend not to flush
out. It has brought home the truth in the saying that we are what we wear – or
eat, sit on, breathe, rub up against or drink. The “environment” is not “out
there” as David Suzuki reminds us: We are the environment and it is us.
Specifically with regard to fabrics: over 2,000 chemicals are
used in textile processing, and these include some of the most toxic known
(lead, mercury, arsenic, formaldehyde, Bisphenol A, PBDE, PFOA). There are no
requirements that manufacturers disclose the chemicals used in processing –
chemicals which remain in the finished fabrics. Often the chemicals are used
under trade names, or are protected by legislation as “trade secrets” in food
and drug articles – but fabrics don’t even have a federal code to define what
can/cannot be used because fabrics are totally unregulated in the U.S.,
except in terms of fire retardancy or intended use. It’s pretty much a
free-for-all.
What they’re finding is that this chemical onslaught seems
to be changing us. Using a computer-assisted technique called microarray
profiling, scientists can now examine the effects of toxins on thousands of
genes at once (before they could only study 100 at a time at most). They can
also search for signs of chemical subversion at the molecular level, in genes
and proteins. This means that we are beginning to understand how even small
doses of certain chemicals may switch genes on and off in harmful ways during
the most sensitive period of development.
So why not seek products - fabrics, soaps, cosmetics, perfumes, deodorants, food - that don't contain chemicals that harm you - or your children or grandchildren?
----------------------------------------------------------
