Certified organic clothing to accredited standards helps ensure that natural fibers are sustainably grown and ensures that manufacturing and processing have been done in an eco-friendly way.
There are many problems associated with traditional textile dyeing methods. For starters, most fibers are bleached with chlorine. When released into local water systems, chlorine combines with organic matter to form trihalomethanes (THMs), a class of carcinogenic compounds that are incredibly dangerous to both humans and wildlife.
After the textiles are bleached, they are subjected to chemical dyeing systems with synthetic dyes. These conventional dyes are often synthesized in the laboratory using heavy metals and other harmful chemicals that are dangerous to those who create the textiles, as well as dangerous to the environment when they leave the plant. They may also present health risks to the wearer of the garment.
Of particular concern are Azo dyes, used to give some garments their vibrant yellow, red and orange colors, which have been linked to cancer. With names like “D&C Red 33” or “Sunset Yellow FCF,” these potential cancer-causing dyes can also be found in food!
Despite the fact that these dyeing techniques are so detrimental to human and environmental health, many developing countries lack regulations protecting against their use. And since the vast majority of clothing sold is made in developing countries where environmental laws don’t exist, this is an important factor to consider.
Fortunately, organic clothing offers a solution.
The source of contamination from textile dyes comes in three forms:
– Chemicals used to add color to fabrics,
– Methods used to fix those dyes to fabrics,
– How wastewater is disposed of once the fabrics have been dyed.
For a garment to be certified organic, it must be processed through these three phases without the use of synthetic chemicals (or only synthetic chemicals that meet strict ecological and health standards).
One of the easiest ways to avoid dyes altogether is to look for color-grown hemp. Different processes are used to create hemp fibers suitable for clothing, some of which will retain the natural color of the fibers: white, grey, green, brown or black. When a garment is made with the natural color of the original hemp plant, it is sometimes called color-grown hemp clothing.
But regardless of whether you get a colored garment that is grown or not, certified organic clothing provides the following guarantees that you would never get with conventional clothing:
– Fabrics would be bleached with hydrogen peroxide, an extremely benign oxidizer compared to chlorine.
– Natural dyes are used, created from terrestrial sources such as earthen clays and plant extracts.
– Only low impact and fiber reactive dyes are allowed, water soluble dyes
– Heavy metal free dyes
By choosing certified organic clothing made from materials like hemp or organic cotton, you get peace of mind knowing that your clothing has been produced in an environmentally friendly way and is as healthy for you as it is for the planet.