A Greenpeace investigation has
shown that 14 large international clothes manufacturers of mostly sports brands
use toxic substances alkyl phenols in their products.
Nonyl phenol ethoxylates (NPEs) were detected in two-thirds of the samples the
group tested, including popular brands such as Calvin Klein, Adidas, Converse,
Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch, Bauer Hockey, Cortefiel, Uniqlo, Gap, H&M,
Lacoste, Nike, Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation (PVH Corp) and Puma.
About a dozen Greenpeace activists dressed as referees created a stir as they
descended on one of Adidas' busiest shops in the southern Chinese city.
They handed out campaign leaflets to customers while handing warning yellow
cards to store staff, cautioning the brand to "play clean".
Nonyl phenol ethoxylates (NPEs) are commonly used as detergents in industries
including the production of natural and synthetic textiles. NPEs break down to
form nonyl phenol, a dangerous toxin that has persistent and hormone-disrupting
properties. This toxin has been proven to mimic female hormones, alter sexual
development and affect reproductive systems.
As the report was released, activists stormed a flagship Adidas store in Hong
Kong, demanding that the store eliminate hazardous chemicals in their products
and urging would be customers to "rethink."
About a dozen Greenpeace activists dressed as referees created a stir as they
descended on one of Adidas' busiest shops in the southern Chinese city.
They handed out campaign leaflets to customers while handing warning yellow
cards to store staff, cautioning the brand to "play clean".
The chemicals are harmful to human immune and reproductive systems and to the
liver. They cannot be removed by water treatment plants. That is why they have
been eliminated elsewhere, Greenpeace said in the report.
The danger is that when they get into water during washing those substances can
transform into nonylphenol, a harmful substance capable of affecting the
hormonal balance in the human system. Further, nonilphenol also damages the
environment and gets into food, Greenpeace points out.
The world's largest sportswear brand, Nike announced it will eliminate all
releases of hazardous chemicals across its global supply chain by 2020. The
company says it will ensure full transparency regarding chemicals released from
suppliers' factories, and will also use its influence, knowledge and experience
to eliminate hazardous chemicals from the clothing industry in general.
"We recognize the path to reaching this goal must be through innovation, the
application of green chemistry, and broad industry and regulatory collaboration
and engagement," Nike says.
Nike and Puma promised last week that they would remove harmful substances from
their materials, but Li Ning, Converse, Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie & Fitch, Bauer
Hockey, Cortefiel, Uniqlo, have remained silent. Meanwhile, Adidas has revealed
it is planning to collaborate with other brands to develop improved supply chain
standards.
An Adidas spokeswoman said the company has already had early talks with brands
including Pentland, which makes Lacoste shoes, H&M, Nike and Puma, about
establishing an industry-wide initiative to develop integrated chemicals
management programs.
"We believe there needs to be an industry-wide approach and that's why we're
trying to get together as a group," she said. "We've already had first
discussions with other brands and we've been in constant dialogue in the last
couple of weeks."
Many of the name-brand clothing companies accused have reportedly been working
on improving their sustainability efforts and reducing the environmental
footprint of their products. However, their plans at no point included clear-cut
goals to eliminate toxic dyes.