I always thought I wouldn’t have to worry about some things – like, oh, incoming missiles, terrorist plots, and chemicals which could destroy me – because I thought my government would have something in place to protect me. But the recent chemical spill in West Virginia changed that: for those of you who don’t know, …
I was one of those people who thought that manufacturers were not “allowed” to sell me any product that contained something that might harm me. As I quickly learned, that’s basically not true in the United States – especially with respect to fabrics. The EU is light years ahead of the US with their REACH program, …
We’ve pointed out in several blog postings the names of various chemicals that are used in textile processing which are known to cause cancer. These include (but aren’t limited to) antimony, pentachlorophenol, methylene chloride, arsenic, formaldehyde, phthalates, benzenes, PVC, sulfuric acid, acrylonitrile. The fabrics we live with are full of chemicals that are known to …
We published a post about lead in fabrics about a year ago, but I thought it was important enough to remind you of the dangers of lead in fabrics, because we’re starting to see claims of “heavy metal free” dyestuffs used in fabrics. What does that mean? Lead is considered one of those “heavy metals’ …
John Wargo wears at least three hats: he is a professor of environmental policy, risk analysis, and political science at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, he chairs the Environmental Studies Major at Yale College, and is an advisor to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He published this opinion on …
OEcotextiles 