Health Harming Clothing
We may not give much thought to clothing beyond style and functionality, but a recent panel discussion at the Future Fabrics Expo in London titled “Clothes that don’t make us sick: Solutions to the problem of plastics,” may give you pause for thought. Beyond the issue of microplastic and microfiber pollution released during laundering, experts have found an alarming rate of “self-poisoning” from the chemicals used to produce synthetic fabrics that we absorb through the skin. Incredibly, 69% percent of clothing is now synthetic, consuming 110.23 billion pounds (50bn kilos) of oil annually. It is part of the “fast fashion” problem: the trade-off between inexpensive clothing and its impact on physical and environmental health.2
History of Synthetic Fabrics
The very first semi-synthetic fabric developed was rayon in the early 19th century. It’s produced from wood pulp that is processed with chemicals to create a silk-like fabric and advertised in the 1920s as “artificial silk”. After World War II, the use and demand for relatively inexpensive synthetic fabrics dramatically increased. Soon Lycra, nylon, and polyester dominated the clothing market. The latter surpassed the use of cotton fabric in 2022.1
Synthetic fibers are manufactured by combining materials to produce a thick, semi-liquid substance that is forced through a “spinneret” to create thread that is then woven into cloth. Because synthetic clothing is inexpensive, durable, easy to launder, and often resists wrinkling, it has become the go-to fabric choice over natural fibers. However, synthetic clothing comes at an environmental and human cost due to the release of microplastics when laundered and also because of the harmful chemicals used during processing.2
Health Impacts
Dr. Barbro Melgert, professor of respiratory immunology at the University of Groningen highlights the problem of synthetic clothing by warning that “synthetic fibres and associated chemicals can “accumulate” in our bodies which could eventually lead to self-poisoning”.1 She noted that nylon is particularly detrimental to lung health as it impacts repair and growth due to the chemicals associated with it.
Moreover, a 2020 review published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology found that endocrine-disrupting chemicals, many of which are used in the processing of synthetic clothing, are linked to weight gain in women and polycystic ovary syndrome — a major cause of infertility. Additionally, these chemicals are associated with prostate cancer and semen damage in men.
Polyester-based clothing often utilizes Bisphenol-A (BPA), a potent endocrine disruptor. You may remember this as the chemical in plastic baby bottles and linings in canned food that caused a public outcry not too long ago. For clothing, it is used to improve the fabric’s lifespan as well as add anti-static and moisture-wicking properties. Most athletic wear is made of polyester and spandex that many times utilize BPA. It’s something to keep in mind while exercising or participating in hot yoga as chemicals in your clothing are more readily absorbed when you sweat.
Incredibly, Maria A. Muñoz and Pamela J. Lein from the University of California, Davis found athletic wear — including brands such as Nike, Athleta, and Patagonia — contained 40 times California’s legal limit of BPA exposure under Proposition 65.4
Next are perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, otherwise known as “forever chemicals” PFAS. These chemicals are found in stain, water, and flame-resistant clothing — like raincoats, hiking pants, school and work uniforms, snow coats and pants, mittens, and sports bras. PFAS are also found in bibs, hats, baby shoes, sweatshirts, swimwear, and stroller covers, according to a study published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters.5
“What was surprising about this group of samples was the high detection frequency of PFAS in the garments required for children to wear,” said Graham Peaslee, professor of physics at Notre Dame and a co-author of the study. “Children are a vulnerable population when it comes to chemicals of concern, and nobody knows these textiles are being treated with PFAS and other toxic chemicals.”6
Another study published in the same journal found that 4-100% of breastmilk samples contained up to 16 types of PFAS.7 This is alarming considering PFAS are associated with impaired glucose tolerance, reproductive and developmental toxicity, asthma, behavioral problems, gestational diabetes, child and adult obesity, breast cancer, endometriosis, and lowered semen quality.4,5
Alternatives to Synthetic Clothing
Cotton, linen, wool, and hemp are four fabrics that can be a healthier alternative to synthetics — with one caveat: they are organic and/or utilize GOTS or Oeko-Tex certification to ensure they are free from 100 chemical substances that are known to damage human health. Fabrics made from hemp can typically bypass these requirements as long as the fibers aren’t treated with toxic chemicals or dyes as it is a resilient crop and usually does not require pesticides during the growing season.
What about waterproof rain gear?
Before the advent of synthetic fabrics, people relied on boiled wool coats as well as waxed canvas to repel rain. It is still possible to find brands that utilize these fabrics, although it may take a bit of digging.
More commonly found are PFAS-free Durable Water Repellency (DWR) coatings, such as:
- HyperDRY ECO
- DownTek ZeroPFC
- Nikwax
- Ecoguard-SYN
- Ecorepel
- NANOMYTE®-SR-200EC
- Organotex
These are just a few examples — new alternatives to DWR are regularly launched for commercial use. As the hazards of chemicals in clothing become more apparent, sportswear companies are developing innovative processes to limit exposure to toxic chemicals, but we have a long way to go before this approach is adopted by mainstream clothing manufacturers — if it happens at all.
Lowering Your Toxic Load
In modern life, it is nearly impossible to avoid every chemical and toxin. But we can reduce our exposure as much as possible, while also making sure our main detoxification organs — the kidneys and liver — are supported and operating at peak efficiency to remove toxins before they cause a health crisis.
This is why I developed our potent Liver Blend. Containing concentrated extracts of dandelion root, milk thistle, and schisandra berry, these ingredients are known to be powerful, all-natural detoxifiers of pharmaceutical and over-the-counter drugs, environmental toxins, and chemotherapy agents.
What’s more, this blend also addresses a range of health complaints, including: cirrhosis, fatty liver disease, jaundice, and hepatitis. Additionally, it helps to reduce the accumulation of lipids in the liver, calm inflammation, promote liver regeneration, and much more.
If you are seeking an all-in-one herbal formulation that encourages healthy liver function and detoxification, this is for you. Stop by my apothecary today to learn more!
Nicole Apelian
Nicole’s Apothecary Products in this Post
Liver Blend Tincture
References
- “Explainer: Dressed to kill? The hidden dangers of synthetic clothing” Just Style, July 4, 2024. https://www.just-style.com/features/explainer-dressed-to-kill-the-hidden-dangers-of-synthetic-clothing/?cf-view&cf-closed
- “Social Fabric: Land, Labor, and the World the Textile Industry Created” Cornell University Library. https://exhibits.library.cornell.edu/social-fabric-land-labor-and-the-world-the-textile-industry-created/feature/synthetic-fibers
- Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: implications for human health
Kahn, Linda G et al., The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Volume 8, Issue 8, 703 – 718 - “Toxic textiles: Potential health risks associated with toxic chemicals in clothing” by Maria A. Muñoz and Pamela J. Lein, Open Access Government, December 7, 2023. https://doi.org/10.56367/OAG-041-9857
- Chunjie Xia, Miriam L. Diamond, Graham F. Peaslee, Hui Peng, Arlene Blum, Zhanyun Wang, Anna Shalin, Heather D. Whitehead, Megan Green, Heather Schwartz-Narbonne, Diwen Yang, Marta Venier. Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in North American School Uniforms. Environmental Science & Technology, 2022; DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c02111
- University of Notre Dame. (2022, September 21). Study finds high levels of PFAS in school uniforms. ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/09/220921092938.htm
- Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Breast Milk: Concerning Trends for Current-Use PFAS, Guomao Zheng, Erika Schreder, Jennifer C. Dempsey, Nancy Uding, Valerie Chu, Gabriel Andres, Sheela Sathyanarayana, and Amina Salamova, Environmental Science & Technology 2021 55 (11), 7510-7520DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c06978
