Category: Chemicals
Numerous chemicals, including toxic substances and endocrine disrupting chemicals are being used throughout textile manufacturing process. Dyeing processes alone usually involve more than 1600 different chemicals, including formaldehyde, chlorine, lead, and mercury. Treatment and dyeing of textile is accountable for 20% of global industrial water pollution. PFOS is being used to make textiles water repellent, which is a Persistent Organic Pollutant (POP) that will stay in the environment forever and is linked to cancer and other diseases. Studies show that after recycling some of these toxic chemicals can still be found in the new textiles that have been made.
PFAS in textile contaminates Europe’s circular economy
PFAS presence in textiles can hinder recycling and reuse, posing a barrier to achieving a circular economy.
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The BANner PFAS initiative
We, European civil society organisations, urge to ban all PFAS in consumer products by 2025 and to have a complete ban by 2030.
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The Production of Nylon and Sustainable Fashion
The transition towards sustainable fashion in the textile industry is marked by innovations in recycled and bio-based nylons, closed-loop manufacturing processes, and eco-friendly technologies, aiming to reduce the significant environmental footprint of traditional nylon production
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Pesticides in Leather and the Intersection with Fast Fashion and Sustainable Fashion
This review examines the significant presence of pesticide residues in leather products, as detailed in the study by Jinlan Dai et al. (2020), and explores the broader implications for the fast fashion industry and the shift towards sustainable fashion practices.
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Addressing the Next Steps with PFAS Challenges in Fashion
The future of fashion demands a decisive shift towards PFAS-free practices, emphasizing innovation, stringent regulations, and consumer awareness to eradicate the use of these harmful “forever chemicals.”
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Regulating PFAS as a Chemical Class in the Textile Sector
HEJSupport caught up with Maria Delfina Cuglievan Wiese from the SAICM Secretariat to get more details about managing PFAS as a chemical class in the textile sector.
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- Challenges of textile waste import to Tunisia with Semia Gharbi, Tunisia
- Environment and health challenges of the textile industry in Bangladesh, with Dr Shahriar Hossain from ESDO in Bangladesh
- How textile waste piles up in the Global South with Gilbert Kuepouo, Cameroon
- Sanitary pads and toxic-free textile solutions with Priti Mahesh from India