When I wrote the previous article (4), I recalled a story I heard about three years ago from an executive in the Thai textile industry who took care of me as an amateur in the field of textiles.

「The important thing is to always wash any new clothes you buy, whether they are organic or not, before you wear them. Underwear is a must.」

The previous post was written about a random survey of children's clothing that found toxic substances such as perfluorooctanoic acid and nonylphenol in all samples.

Perfluorooctanoic acid and nonylphenol. These two chemicals are so typical that they are indispensable in the textile industry.

Perfluorooctanoic acid has the following four characteristics. (From the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry website)

○Human Health Effects
When rhesus monkeys were given repeated, forced doses for 90 days, all died at 4.5 Mg/Kg/Day (a monkey weighing 10 Kg would receive 45 Mg daily).

○Difficult to decompose
Both oxygen-loving and oxygen-hating microorganisms were added to the sludge where many microorganisms were cultured, but perfluorooctanoic acid was not eaten by the microorganisms and was not degraded.

○　Persistence and Accumulation
It has been detected in high concentrations in bears and seals in the Arctic, the furthest away from anthropogenic sources. Persistence and accumulation of perfluorooctanoic acid are strong.

Due to its hazardous properties, the United States is considering regulation of perfluorooctanoic acid. In Japan, perfluorooctanoic acid has been designated as a Class II Monitoring Chemical Substance under the Chemical Substances Control Law.

Currently, DuPont continues to manufacture it. In some countries, the use of these materials is banned because they are harmful in their own countries, but their manufacture and export are legal.
Researchers around the world have begun to investigate the effects of perfluorooctanoic acid.

Nonylphenol is one of 67 substances listed as suspected environmental hormones (endocrine disruptors) in the "Strategic Plan for Environmental Hormones SPEED'98". In order for female (male) hormones to exert their effects, they must bind to receptors in the same organism. This is often compared to a key (hormone) and a keyhole (receptor).

However, a false key "chemical with a three-dimensional structure" that only resembles a female (male) hormone is bound to the keyhole of that receptor. By doing so, they may exhibit female (male) hormone effects, but they are effects caused by the chemical substance. This is the so-called environmental hormone action. Perhaps because there are many matching keys (hormones) that match the keyhole of the female hormone receptor, many environmental hormone substances exhibit female hormone effects.

According to the results of a survey conducted by the Ministry of the Environment, nonylphenol has been shown to have "female hormone-like effects" in experiments using fish (medaka). Since male fish also secrete female hormones, there is a possibility that "female hormone-like effects" may occur.

It makes me understand the meaning of what the Thai spinning company told me.

Perfluorooctanoic acid and nonylphenol are used in high proportions in the following process, if dyed or with a fizzy pattern.

[Scouring and washing] Surfactant = detergent, adds tension to fibers,
Softening, prevention of static and furballs
[ Fiber Spinning and Yarn Spinning ] Lubricants
[Dyeing agent] Mordant and uniform dyeing agent
[Finishing] Fabric softener Water repellent
[Woven fabric] Lubricant, for repairing holes, speckles, and dents in fabric paint.
Paint Labeling Agents

It is estimated that more than 8,000 chemicals are used in cotton production sites around the world from raw materials to finished fabrics to a single product.

Even if the raw material, cotton trees, are organic and strictly controlled in the fields, the process after dyeing and processing with chemicals is like a chemical factory. In fact, even organic fields are allowed to use insecticides and other chemicals approved by certification organizations. It is just that chemicals certified as dangerous are excluded.

Although we have started to say "organic cotton," the reality is far from the expectation of "no pesticides and chemical fertilizers" that many consumers had.

If the labeling had been "reduced pesticides and chemical fertilizers," so many people would not have been confused, but is that because the product would not sell well?

The bottom line is that it seems to end up being a promotional tool for cotton products. It's a shame, because I was very much in favor of the original concept.

Next to organic, I feel that the concept of attracting more consumers has already come to the market.

(END)