Extract from Organic Advantage Ed. 111 (BFA e-newsletter) November 2008

Organic can help your health in more ways than one - it seems you are not just what you eat, but also what you wear.

Clothing and textiles manufacturers and importers are expected to be feeling the results of a vigorous push from the EU chemicals regulator (REACH) to identify and quantify chemicals used in their products for better consumer protection. 

The regulations were brought into play in July last year and companies have been given until the end of December 2008 to pre-register most chemical substances.

They're on the lookout for products containing SVHC's  (Substances of Very High Concern) including carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic and bioaccumulative substances.

And their suggested labelling for items containing chemicals highlight the possible health hazards of any outfit "Contains substance Y which is (very) dangerous to health. Do not wear in direct contact with skin." (Taken from REACH: ‘Guidance on requirements for substances on articles').

The chemicals in your clothes

Chemicals used in clothing could include PFO's (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid) - a key ingredient in fabric protectors and found in some impregnation agents for textiles and apparel.

It was deemed persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic to mammals by the OECD in 2002, a view supported by the EU's Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) in 2005.

Also potentially at fault is everyone's favourite - jeans.

A good example includes those that are ‘fashionably faded', a process which often requires sanded denim to be coated with chemicals and resin, or hosed with potassium permanganate to make sure creases and bleaching remain attractively intact.

But the big fallout for conventional clothes wearers is cotton.

Cotton uses huge amounts of water and pesticides in production.

According to Rachel Louise Snyder, author of ‘Fugitive Denim', a third of a kilogram of chemicals can go into making the average pair of non-organic jeans.Dyes and chemicals are also a problem, with farmers in Mexico's Tehuacan valley reportedly stating ‘blue' toxic water from the waste of a thriving denim industry is poisoning their land.
In poorly regulated countries, often, dyes and chemicals flow straight from factory to water supply.

Ready to wear Organic?

According to Jason Clay (author ‘World Agriculture in the Environment') going organic will see you avoid the 46 chemicals most common in the growing and processing of conventional cotton.

He says cotton accounts for around 25% of all insecticide use globally, and 11% of total pesticides.

And he puts depleted soil and water quality, negative effects on biodiversity and high level health concerns for farm workers and cotton communities, on shoppers ‘to be avoided' list.

Snyder says organic jeans can cost up to 30% more. Despite this, the uptake of brands offering organic or blended organic clothing lines is on the rise, and awareness of organic cotton benefits is up.

It seems consumers asking "Where were my jeans made?" could be big this season.