The Brockovich Report

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 =)

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.

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?

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

Noel Leeming Smells.

That is all.

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

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.

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.

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

I work for a retail store and started having a terrible rash solidly over mostly the top portion of my body, starting on the face,head, trunk of body front and back, i was covered solid. Thinking at first it was posion oak i treated as such, then went to doc as it didnt go away, and to make a long story shorter, this lasted for almost 2 years. I went to docs, dermetologists, and emergency room to no avail. Thinking i had everything from bugs to allergies i tried everything. It was then i realized it was job related as i hang clothing in my job duties. They come to our store in boxes packed in plastic, and totally sprayed in formeldehyde, and we remove them from the bags and hang them on large racks to put out to sell. So our back room is full like a huge closet, and we touch, breath, and climb around these daily, we also re-use the plastic that comes off of these cloths to repack other things. This is not my primary job luckly so i was only working with it one day a week, but i had a solid rash and no clue what it was for years. It not only gives a rash but burns the eyes, nose and makes the face, nose, ears, body and head itch like crazy. I started using lotion morning and nite to coat my skin before i realized the cause of this rash and that helps but i have to put on alot during the day. I also came home after a long day of this covered only to hold my baby grandson and hug and love my family. He also has skin rashes. This actually made me so very mad when i realized it was this chemical. What can we do to stop it? What is it doing inside where we cant see the long term damage? Makes me very angry and scared not just for me but my family. Thank you for standing up for this

Once again the government is choosing money over human life. I am not surprised that this is occurring what I am surprised is that Americans are not protesting in massive droves demanding change. In this capitalist economy this is the only thing that matters... money. Something needs to be done. The government is supposed to protect its people from all forms of dangers not only military or foreign powers but especially health concerns. We are paying them enough with our taxes and yet they continue to abuse us. What will it take for Americans to get off the video games, out of the bars and onto the streets demanding change!

Thank you for this helpful information. I just had an experience almost identical to William Cordner's (see above). On December 23, 2009 I purchased a pair of Gap 1969 jeans (flare). They are labeled "Made In China", and have a note that reads "The water used in the process of washing & dyeing these jeans has been specially treated to ensure it is safe & clean when it leaves the factory". (Oh really?) I wore them that very day, foolishly without washing them first. I noticed the next day that I had 2 strange, painful welts at the top of each thigh. Gradually, these welts seemed to fade. I wore the jeans very briefly on 2 other occasions since that time. On December 30, 2009, I washed the jeans inside out in cold water and air-dried them. Yesterday, the 31st, I wore the jeans all day and night. I woke up this morning (January 1rst) with horribly painful red/purple welts/hives at the top of each thigh and on my stomach where my belt had been. I also have a hideous rash that extends halfway down my thighs. Come Monday, I will need to seek medical help for this painful condition. From the location of the welts/rash, and the timing of the occurrence, I feel very sure that some chemical in these jeans has sickened my skin. Like William, I have never been a "chemically sensitive" person. I have just written a letter to Gap. Will Gap refund my money and/or pay my doctor's bill(s)? I doubt it!

I had a similar reaction to the Gap jeans in December of 2009. I still have scars on my legs. After that experience (and a period of healing) I washed the jeans twice, cut a small piece of material off of the jeans and taped it to inside area of my elbow so I could see how my skin would react. I still got a rash. In fact, I still have the rash. I only cut off a dime size piece of material and yet the rash managed to spread to both arms, my back, neck and face, etc. I still have itching on my legs from the first rash so who knows when this one will heal.

I am wondering if the other people who have gotten this rash might have immune problems (or just a weak immune system). That might be a common link between the victims. Anyone who might be suffering from the flu, a cold, pneumonia, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's, cancer, or any other illness. Any illness or issue that might effect the immune system that would make someone a target for whatever this chemical is that Gap is using on us.

I just hope they are not using these chemicals on the jeans for Baby Gap. I would cringe to see the alabaster skin of a new born child blistered and permanently scarred from this chemical. I would feel sickened if a hospital patient leaving the hospital right after getting a bone marrow transplant (having lost a lot of weight) decided to get a new pair of Gap jeans and because of the chemicals in the jeans and their weakened immune system that patient ends up getting a blistering rash that could potentially lead to a life ending infection.

I'm not sure if this chemical is formaldehyde or some sort of pesticide used to keep bugs out of their material, but it doesn't wash out.