Are You Wearing Toxins? Part I

Written by Sam Klaiber

5 May 2025

Allergies and undiagnosed sickness are rising everywhere but people often think more of contaminated food, air and water. What about our apparels? Let’s take a closer look at what we choose to wear for ourselves.

We try to make sense of everything but we don’t really know what we are doing. Am I saying it correctly? I think so. Organic foods that fly half the world to sit vividly waiting for us at our local supermarkets, electric cars so we don’t use fossil fuel but if electricity is cleanly produced is still a myth for many of us. Last but not least, sustainable fashion that we only see the label said so to make us feel less guilty to purchas e. Let’s admit it, we don’t know that we don’t know.

To know more about what we don’t really know, today I want to talk about colors used in the fashion industry. Besides the main function of clothing- protect us from heat or cold, we all want beautiful(according to our tastes) items to be on our bodies. To state who we are, what we like and what mood we have today. And colors also play an important role in making clothes beautiful. According to the Ted-Ed video episode “The life cycle of a T-shirt”, fashion factories release wastewater into rivers and oceans without proper treatment. What does that mean to us? This untreated water is contaminated with some cancer-causing substances like Cadmium(Cd), Lead(Pb),Chromium(Cr) and Mercury(Hg). Alright, this might not be worrisome enough for you. But imagine these harmful chemicals still stay in your apparel until it’s in your hands. Close enough to feel death knocking at your door? These harmful substances directly touch your skin and are released when washed. Everyday. Maybe we are not allergic to food. Maybe it’s our clothes.

According to an article from The Guardian by Alden Wicker in July 2023 about chemical substances used in the fashion industry and their impact, there are several reports about allergies and sickness caused by clothing. From rashes and eczema in toddlers, respiratory problems from people who work in the fashion industry, or autoimmune diseases found in cabin crew after wearing uniforms made of cheap and vividly dyed polyester.

Same opinion and warning from the modern environmental movement organisations, Earthday.org, that we should think more when we purchase apparels because some certain fabrics and substances can cause wearers severe sickness as well as damaging the planet.

What are we going to do then? Shortest and simplest answer, look for labels and learn more about what you buy just like when you look at nutrition labels on food packages. There are companies out there who are providing new pace and choices in fashion. Here at Yangna Store, we also provide you what you and our Mother Earth deserve. Natural dye, handspun, hand woven apparels as well as home deco or even products that help preserve local wisdom. We don’t want to look posh but sick inside as much as we don’t want to live in a toxic broken world. All of us are a part of making the world a better place. And we can start now.

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References:

The life cycle of a t-shirt - Angel Chang

https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/jul/02/fashion-chemicals-pfas-bpa-toxic

https://www.earthday.org/toxic-textiles-the-chemicals-in-our-clothing/