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Question: Harmful substances in clothes |
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Clothes sometimes lose color, are dry-cleaned, washed, contain harmful substances. What happens to these "molecules" in our body? In which way can they harm us?
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Answer: |
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Textiles that come into contact with human skin have gone through a long treatment process, from the natural or synthetic raw materials up to the finished piece of clothing. Textile chemistry is a branch of applied chemistry. This branch is concerned with the knowledge of the chemistry of textile fibers, textile finishing, the care and maintenance of textiles as well as textile testing and analysis.
Textile finishing includes preparation and pretreatment, dyeing and printing, as well as refinement of fabrics. These treatment processes involve both non-chemical and chemical procedures. Some non-chemical processing methods are, for example, pretreatment by heating or mechanical handling. Chemical finishing often does not pose any health problems for the person wearing the finished piece of clothing since the chemicals that are used not always remain on the fabric but are washed out again. These chemicals can, however, harm the environment, and they can be hazardous for those working in the textile industry who, depending on the nature of their job, may be exposed to them.
The chemicals with which we come into contact when wearing clothes cannot be evaluated toxicologically as a whole. In the following, some problems concerning textiles and health which have come up in the past will be addressed:
Inflammatory skin reactions are possible to wool fibers which irritate the skin mechanically or to perchloroethylene which remains on the clothes after dry cleaning and thus irritates the skin chemically.
Inflammatory reactions can also have an allergic cause. Formaldehyde, an agent widely used in textile manufacturing for its anti-shrinking properties, is an important so-called contact allergen. This is a chemical substance which may produce an allergic reaction to skin contact. Formaldehyde can account for up to 8% of a product's textile weight. Although in Switzerland there are no legal limits for formaldehyde in textiles, an analysis of the Cantonal Laboratory of Zurich (Kantonales Labor Zürich) in the reporting year of 2002 fortunately did not find a concentration of more than 0.15% of free formaldehyde in any of the samples tested. This number lies below the limit set by the German Hazardous Substances Regulation (Gefahrstoffverordnung).
Allergic reactions can also be triggered by different textile dyes.
Several dyes of the important group of so-called azo-dyes can furthermore release carcinogenic (i.e. cancer producing) aromatic amines. In 2002 Switzerland set a legal limit for such azo-dyes in accordance with legislation in effect in Germany and anticipated in the EU.
Keeping health hazards through clothes to a minimum is primarily the responsibility of the textile industry and the legislators. But the people wearing the clothes can contribute their share by washing the clothes with environmentally safe and properly dosed laundry detergent, by considering carefully the use of dyes and bleaches, impregnation materials and dry cleaning in the private household. And when buying clothes as a consumer, one should also keep in mind the textile workers' health and the environment in the countries producing and processing textile products.
Author:
Dr. med. Monika Guirguis und Dr. med. Hugo Kupferschmidt, Schweizerisches Toxikologisches Informationszentrum, Zürich
References:
Jackson EM, Goldner R (eds). Irritant Contact Dermatitis. Dekker, New York, USA, 1990.
Textil-Hilfsmittel-Katalog. International Textile Auxiliaries Buyers' Guide. Konradin, Leinfelden, Germany, 1994.
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