Hazardous substances in clothing and other textiles

The series of steps in producing and selling a garment - fabric production, fabric treatment, cutting and final product assembly and transport to market -frequently involve international or intercontinental movements of products. 

They have specific labels and are easy to spot in our shops, the company says on its site. Hojsik is urging Zara to do more. As the world s largest clothing retailer, Zara needs to take the lead and take mgent, ambitious and transparent action to detox their clothes and supply chains. For the Greenpeace study, a total of 141 items of clothing were purchased in April 2012 in 29 countries and regions worldwide from authorized retailers. 

All tested brands had at least several items containing nonylphenol ethoxylates, or NPEs. Greenpeace warns that some of the chemicals released, when NPEs break down in water treatment plants or in rivers, were hormone-disrupting chemicals. NPEs were found in 89 garments - just under two-thirds of those tested. The highest concentrations of NPEs - above 1,000 parts per million - were found in clothing items from Zara, Metersbonwe, Levi s, C A, Mango, Calvin Klein, Jack Jones and Marks Spencer. 

High levels of toxie phthalates were foimd in four of the garments. Caneer-eausing amines from the use of certain azo dyes were detected in two garments. Both produets were manufactured in Pakistan for Zara and sold in either Lebanon or Himgary. The environmental group is asking that manufaeturers require their suppliers to disclose all releases of toxie ehemieals 

Greenpeace says in the report, As a vital first step to this process, a dynamic list of hazardous chemicals should be established and include chemicals like NPEs and phthalates for priority action, and have a publicly available register of data on discharge emissions and losses of hazardous substances.  

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