Wake Up America
I've already talked about how I am becoming a more careful shopper.
Sometimes being an American has a lot to do with shopping. Certainly raising children has an unavoidable shopping element, especially during school season. Or summer-camp season. Or any change of season. Or birthday season, which is any time. I remember countless shopping emergencies when I used to run down to the closest retail store and pick up a particular blouse for someone's cheerleading costume, emergency socks for gym, etc.... Looking even farther back, I remember visiting discount stores, especially when the kids were little--KMart, or WalMart or Target--the store names don't matter. Who can resist those tiny infant clothes? But there are always moments in the life of a mother when she's got to pinch the pennies until they scream for mercy. Fortunately, there were always discount children's clothes to be had. Inexpensive, cute, and they didn't have to last that long, because the children were going to outgrow them in a matter of weeks or months anyway.
I remember back in the day when I shopped with a great degree of confidence, because all I was looking for was something I could afford that fit well, looked decent, and had enough cotton in it to breathe. All I had to worry about was workmanship.
I never worried that I might be dressing my children in clothing saturated in embalming fluid.
But I recently received an email about something quite disturbing, and when I started looking into the situation, the facts were even worse than I had imagined: a New Zealand investigative television show did some snooping and reported the formaldehyde content of children's clothes.
Who knew there was formaldehyde in clothes? Apparently it is added to decrease the possibility of mold, make them stain resistant, or to prevent wrinkling.
The results of testing ranged from 230 ppm to 18,000 ppm. 20 parts per million is considered dangerous to a human being. Some tests revealed 900 times that. Ph levels were also tested; anything out side of the 4 to 7.5 range is likely to be damaging to skin.
Here are the lastest test results (from New Zealand):
Women's corduroys: 290 parts per million.
A spiderman T-shirt: 1,400 parts per million.
Kids pants: 16,000 parts per million.
White stain resistant pants: 18,000 parts per million.
Investigators determined that the source of the problem was either Chinese fabric or clothing made in China. In fact, ten percent of the tested clothes revealed one or more of twenty-two aromatic amine dyes which are banned in Europe because they are known carcinogens.
Last month, two young boys (in New Zealand) were injured when their supposedly fire retardant pajamas (labeled "low fire danger") caught fire. Guess where their clothes came from? China.
The US Environmental Protection Agency deems formaldehyde a volatile organic compound, and "a probable human carcinogen." They concede that exposure can cause breathing problems and asthma, and eye, skin and nasal irritation. The amount of formaldehyde given off by garments is relative to climate and humidity. Multiple washings and hanging in the sun may reduce the content, but if you have something that is called "permanent," it's going to be awfully hard to get rid of all that formaldehyde.
Even worse, the Environmental Protection Agency hasn't managed to eliminate any industrial compounds since it tried to control Asbestos. Clothing containing formaldehyde levels this high are banned in Europe, and are likely soon to be banned in New Zealand–they plan to adopt European guidelines–but they are still legal here in the US.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a World Health Organization panel of 26 scientists from 10 countries, has concluded that formaldehyde is a human carcinogen contributing to nasopharyngeal cancer and possibly leukemia.
Wake up America and smell the formaldehyde. It's time to get these toxic compounds out of our children's clothes--out of ALL of our clothes. It's time for "Made In America" to mean something again.
What is it going to take to get corrective action?
Currently, I am the President of the consulting firm, Brockovich Research & Consulting, where I am involved in numerous major environmental cases 
Comments
hi there Erin!!! i found your site afta watching the film for the um-teenth time on sky (love it) and saw your blog about the results lil ol TVNZ found here in Aotearoa(new zealand!)
shocking right??? ive always feared formaldehyde, its got alot of amazing properties like its ability to preserve, in my highschool we see animals in jars preserved in formaldehyde solution and every ones stunned and not many have an idea about its HUGE risks. like your original story with hexevalent chromium people arent aware and clothing companies probly arent gunna jump up and admit it right?? straight afta TVNZ released this info other people started butting in and mentioned the process use to test the formaldehyde levels in the clothing, who cares right? some kids pyjamas caught fire coz of this and they were sposed to be fire resistant!! what a bloody crock! this shouldnt be happening. so what do we do? what does new zealand do as a public? we cant test the clothing every time we buy a new pair of undies or a hat?? washing new cloths is suggested but when its in multiple garments its a little unavoidable, so after seeing this i thought a great mind like yourself might have some personal advice for us little kiwis! what can we do?? i certainly know i would hate to see another child hurt or sickened by the preservetives in clothing!
any advice from a woman as giving as you would be much apreciated. thanks for your blog, raising awareness is definately the start.
-concerned kiwi Liam =)
Posted by: Liam McC | September 11, 2007 4:15 AM
This info also made me think of the workers in China who handle this deadly fabric 12 hours a day. They are no doubt breathing in miniscule particles of infected lint and their skin is not doubt absorbing it through the pores.
It saddens me that the currect misadministration cares little for the health and welfare of it's citizens. Maybe things will change in Nov '08!!
But thanks for bringing this to my attention as I have 3 years old twin grandbabies and thanks for all you do Erin.
Posted by: Pam | September 11, 2007 10:03 AM
Wow, what a mess.
Until recently I had my blinders on as well, I had no clue of what is really going on, I most likely still don't even know the half of it. My question is why is this acceptable? I just don't understand how on earth this is okay? Apparently we need more government regulation and you're right, many more CPSC employees, and yes, somehow, bigger budgets for these programs. Wonder why they were ever cut so much in the first place?
Posted by: Kerry | September 24, 2007 11:47 PM
Hi Erin
I work at a female clothing store in Sydney Australia. Today we received stock that stunk of "mothballs" which we later found out is the smell of formaldehyde. All our clothes are made in China. Now we are all concerned. Our head office stated that there is no risk and that they have tested clothes and that we should just "air out" the clothing. We love working there but are now very concerned about our health and we do not think that our head office is entirely proactive about situation.
Regards
Lee
Posted by: Lee | September 26, 2007 3:06 AM
Noel Leeming Smells.
That is all.
Posted by: Jethro | October 18, 2007 2:43 PM
The formaldehyde-in-clothes story was a hoax. A consumer-protection TV program scammed the public for ratings. See http://www.importers.org.nz/?Article=178
Posted by: Daniel Silva | October 18, 2007 5:12 PM
Nothing like junk science:
"A TV3 programme that wrongly claimed clothing imported from China contained dangerous levels of formaldehyde has been criticised by New Zealand's retail trade, which says it cost thousands of dollars in lost sales and refunds to customers"
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10470833
The Formeldahyde claims were a load of rubbish, which started with some dodgy science and were promoted by the Anti trade/anti china crowds.
Posted by: MikeE | October 18, 2007 5:21 PM
I have been diagnosed with an allergy to formaldehyde.
What I think is most interesting here is that European standards are more strict that other countries. If you are allergic, it's nearly impossible to find clothing that is "organic" and than it's usually very expensive. I have yet to fing a workout bra.
Posted by: leslie cardenas | January 10, 2008 9:20 AM
This is a copy of an email I just sent to the Gap:
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Gap Management,
I purchased a pair of Gap 1969 jeans at your store in the Solomon Pond Mall in Marlborough, MA in January. They are labeled "Made In Mexico", "100 % cotton", "No. 54023 G." About 2 weeks ago, I began to wear them a good deal, foolishly without washing them first. I began to notice that my legs were beginning to itch, but I thought nothing of it. This past Thursday (Feb. 7th), I woke up to find my legs covered in painful hives, which I am still treating under medical supervision. From the location of the hives, and the timing of the occurrence, I feel very sure that the cause of the hives is some chemical in your jeans; likely either formaldehyde or the dye used to make the jeans blue. I should mention that I've never been a "chemically sensitive" person, at least until now.
I've done a very brief amount of research on this topic on the web, and discovered that 1) formaldehyde is commonly applied to clothing for a variety of reasons, 2) some dyes and dye fixatives can cause all sorts of health problems, including skin irritation.
I should point out that high levels of these chemicals in clothing you sell endangers not only your customers who wear them, but also your employees who handle them.
I'd love to sue you over this, but even more, I'd like to hear that you 1) are taking steps to investigate the level of these chemicals in the clothing that you currently have on the shelves, 2) are putting in place source or incoming inspection processes to make sure that this doesn't happen in the future. Anything less will be a failure of management responsibility.
I am sure that the first people to read this will not be able to effect any policy changes. I can only strongly encourage you to continue to pass this note up the chain of management responsibility until it reaches someone who can.
Sincerely,
-William Cordner
Posted by: William Cordner | February 10, 2008 9:01 AM