The Daily Star, AFP, November 20, 2012
BEIJING:
Two-thirds of high-street garments tested in a study by Greenpeace contained
potentially harmful chemicals, the group said Tuesday, highlighting the
findings with a "toxic" fashion show in Beijing.
The
environmental campaign group is pushing for fashion brands to commit to
"zero discharge of all hazardous chemicals" by 2020 and to require
suppliers to publicise any toxic chemicals they release into the environment.
Greenpeace
said its investigation tested 141 garments from 20 top global fashion brands
purchased in 29 countries and regions in April of this year for chemicals that
might harm the environment or human health.
The
garments were made in at least 18 countries, mostly in the developing world,
according to Greenpeace. Samples tested included jeans, trousers, t-shirts,
dresses and underwear, it said.
The tests
found that 89 of the garments contained "detectable levels" of
nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), which it said can break down into hormone
disrupting chemicals.
"Even
the apparently small, but cumulative quantities of a substance such as NPE in
individual items of clothing, which are legally allowed, can still be
damaging," the group said in its report.
At the
fashion show in Beijing, one model sporting leopard-print trousers carried an
IV bag filled with orange goo, while another in an ivory bustier wore a bulging
neck brace and face mask.
Another
model with black powder caked around her eyes like bruises posed grimly with
her arm in a sling.
"Major
fashion brands are turning us all into fashion victims by selling us clothes
that contain hazardous chemicals that contribute to toxic water pollution
around the world, both when they are made and washed," Li Yifang, senior
toxics campaigner for Greenpeace East Asia, said in a release.
The report,
titled "Toxic Threads: The Big Fashion Stitch-Up", also said that
"high levels of toxic phthalates" were found in four products and
"cancer-causing amines from the use of azo dyes" were found in two
products.
"As
global players, fashion brands have the opportunity to work on global solutions
to eliminate the use of hazardous substances throughout their product lines and
to drive a change in practices throughout their supply chains," the report
said.
With
fashion seasons coming closer together, more clothes are piling up in landfills
more frequently, Greenpeace said.
"As
fashion gets more and more globalised, more and more consumers worldwide are
becoming fashion's victims while contributing to the industry's
pollution," Greenpeace's Li said.
"But
it doesn't have to be so."
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