An investigation on clothing from 20 global fashion brands showed that 63 percent of the garments contained hazardous nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) and a number contained plasticizers or other cancer-causing compounds, Greenpeace said yesterday.
The non-governmental organization made the announcement during the release of its new global investigative report on hazardous chemicals used in the textiles of garments sold at 20 popular global brands, including Armani, Benetton, Calvin Klein, Diesel, Esprit, Gap, H&M, Levi’s, Mango, Tommy Hilfiger and Zara.
Rose Lai (賴倩如), Greenpeace’s pollution prevention campaign director in Taiwan, said a total of 141 garments were purchased from 29 countries and regions around the world in April, including two items bought from stores in Taiwan — a pair of children’s pants by Zara and a men’s T-shirt by Levi’s.
Photo: AFP
The investigation revealed that detectable levels of NPEs were found in 89 of the garments.
“NPEs are often used as detergents or surfactants in the manufacturing process of textiles and can be washed away with water, but NPEs break down into nonylphenols [NP] in the water” Lai said. “NPs are known to be persistent and bio-accumulative toxic substances, which act as hormone disruptors in the body and also accumulate in the tissues of fish and other organisms.”
In addition, the tests discovered detectable levels of plasticizers in 31 garments, including high levels of toxic phthalates in four of the garments, and cancer-causing amines from the use of certain azo dyes in two.
Among the two items bought in Taiwan, a detectable level of NPE was found on the pants by Zara and three types of plasticizer — diethyl phthalate, di-n-butyl phthalate and di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate — were found on the Levi’s T-shirt.
Although the levels of substances found in the clothes were not considered illegal in Taiwan, Lai said the major brands should bear social responsibility and eliminate the use of these chemicals.
In addition, the companies should “make public information about the use of the chemicals and wastewater discharges containing these substances, and also plan to phase out their use to achieve a goal of zero toxic discharges,” she said.
Lai said Greenpeace’s Detox campaign last year persuaded seven international sportswear brands to commit to finding solutions to cease using the toxic chemical substances in the manufacturing process by 2020, so the organization is also urging fashion brands to take responsibility for the public and the environment.
At present, regulations on the use of these toxic substances are very limited in Taiwan.
The Environmental Protection Administration only prohibits the use of NPE in the manufacture of household detergents and the Toxic Chemical Substances Control Act (毒性化學物質管理法) prohibits four kinds of plasticizers in the manufacture of items for children under 14 years old.
“The government should take a precautionary attitude and pay more attention to toxic pollution and enact stricter regulations for the full-scale management and control of these toxic substances,” Lai said.
NOVEMBER ELECTIONS: The KMT urged the CECC to exclude Taiwanese from the arrivals cap, as they would lose their right to vote if they could not return by July 26 The COVID-19-related border control measures and the cap on the number of international arrivals are not being eased, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it reported 112 imported cases of the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is CECC spokesperson, said a meeting was held yesterday morning in which the Cabinet decided that current border control measures would remain in place. He said the main considerations were global COVID-19 cases increasing 21 percent last week, imported cases of Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 continuing to be detected
Samsung Electronics Co yesterday commenced mass production of 3-nanometer chips that are more powerful and efficient than predecessors, beating rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to a key milestone in the race to build the most advanced chips in the world. South Korea’s largest company said in a statement that it was beginning with 3-nanometer semiconductors for high-performance and specialized low-power computing applications before expanding to mobile processors. By applying so-called Gate-All-Around transistor architecture, Samsung’s 3-nanometer products reduce power consumption by up to 45 percent and improve performance by 23 percent compared with 5-nanometer chips, it said. Samsung’s push to be first
Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung (張學友) has been criticized by the “Little Pink” — a term used to describe young, jingoistic Chinese nationalists on the Web — for saying “Hong Kong jia you [加油, an expression of encouragement].” To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule on Friday, China Central Television made a series of programs in which it interviewed Cheung and other celebrities. Cheung, speaking in Cantonese, said in the interview that “Hong Kong has been through a lot in the past 25 years, including ups and downs” and ended with the phrase “Hong
‘STRONG SUPPORT’: Liberal International expressed concern over Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s airspace, saying they could undermine regional peace Liberal International on Saturday passed a “World Today Resolution” recognizing the threat that China poses to Taiwan, while supporting Taipei’s inclusion in international organizations. Liberal International was established in 1947 as a federation of liberal political parties from around the world. Last week, it held its 63rd congress in Sofia, Bulgaria, which was attended by 221 representatives from 58 countries. President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), in her capacity as chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), delivered a speech in a pre-recorded video at the congress’ opening on Thursday. DPP spokeswoman Hsieh Pei-fen (謝佩芬) yesterday said the party, which has been a member of
RSS