I have been interested in fashion ever since I was young, like most girls are. Back-to-school shopping, summer break shopping, vacation shopping, whatever season it was I was constantly looking for new clothes and new trends. During quarantine, I stumbled upon a video about unwanted Goodwill clothes, discards that exemplified the negative effects the fashion industry has had on the environment. I discovered that donated clothes with rips and impurities go straight to the landfill. Each year, over 10,000 tons of clothes are thrown out, defeating the ethical solution of second hand stores. Horrified, I looked deeper into this phenomenon to see if this was actually true. After much research, I realized just how damaging clothes can be to the environment. My social media feed filled up with information about the negative effects of the clothing industry and how much waste and harm it causes. Over the lifetime of one shirt, one pair of pants, one jacket, each piece of clothing damages the Earth with its water usage, pesticides, dyes, microplastics, even the fabric itself as it deteriorates in a landfill. Armed with this information, I vowed to alleviate any further such harm through my own clothing habits. I decided to purchase all my clothes second hand and limit my consumption. Since then, I have not thought about clothing and fashion the same. I have not cared about clothing and fashion the same. Doing my own research and reading from independent blogs taught me about the fast fashion world and as harmful as it is, there needs to be more government and Environmental Protection Policy action, regulations, and attention towards fashion as a whole so that more people are aware and have the knowledge. The government needs to regulate what chemicals are in clothing that is produced and sold in the United States. This will beneficially impact our environment and our health.
Fast fashion is a relatively new concept in the industry. This specific branch of the industry causes global warming with its harm towards Earth, exploits its workers, and generally sells clothing at incredibly low prices. Fast fashion dominates the fashion world with its constant production of new clothing items, staying on trend with every piece. Since fast fashion pieces are shockingly cheap, people most often associate fast fashion with sites like Shein, Zaful, and Boohoo, though fast fashion is everywhere like H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, GAP, Zara, and so many more. Sites like these have clothing pieces as low as $2.50. With inflation and an increase in material costs, how are these brands selling at such low prices whilst still making a profit? It comes down to how these clothes are made. Throughout the entire life of a piece of clothing, it is harming Earth and its beings in some way. Whether it be while growing/farming the fabric, fabric being bleached or dyed, clothing being sewn together, shipping to be sold, being worn, being washed, or being thrown to a landfill, it finds some way to disrupt.
The process all starts with farming the fabric. Take cotton for example. Cotton is a universal fabric that has been used for centuries due to its warmth and durability. As technology and knowledge has grown over the many years, so does the use of chemicals. When growing cotton for fabric production, farmers use a variety of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to kill insects, weeds, and fungal infections. These fertilizers and pesticides can be a variety of organophosphates, pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, aldicarb, and so much more. These chemicals are impactful for many reasons. First, when the cotton plants are being sprayed with the chemicals, they can bleed into nearby bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, and wetlands and go into the atmosphere. To add to the list of chemicals, nitrous oxide is also being released into the atmosphere during the spraying process which contaminates bodies of water. Another important factor of growing cotton is its water and energy usage. To produce one kilogram of cotton, around 20,000 liters of water and 17 kilowatt hours of energy is needed (1). The water usage, energy and chemicals do not stop there. Many cotton clothing does not stay its original color. This leads to the cotton either being bleached or dyed. The most common way to bleach cotton is through hydrogen peroxide bleaching. The process requires massive amounts of water and energy ultimately making one cotton t-shirt using 2,700 liters of water and 25.3 kilowatts. Dying cotton is even more harmful than bleaching due to its chemicals. AZO dyes are the most common group of dyes that are used because of the cheap and colorful result. When these dyes are sprayed or prepared in a solution, it is very common for them to bleed into nearby bodies of water. As a result of this, they can reduce light penetration. This stops algae and other aquatic plants from growing (2), ultimately hurting the ecosystem and its living beings. These dyes not only have an impact on Earth, they impact the buyer/user too. AZO dyes are known for being a carcinogen, which is a substance capable of causing cancer. Carcinogens are found naturally in sunlight rays though also in man made items like cigarette smoke and car exhaust fumes. By wearing these cheaply made clothes, you could be exposing yourself to cancer without even knowing it. Organophosphate, pyrethroids, neonicotinoids, aldicarb, hydrogen peroxide, and AZO dyes seem like enough, though there has been research showing that more chemicals are on these clothes. Shein’s clothes were tested by environmental chemist Miriam Diamond and other researchers from the University of Toronto when they found a toddler’s jacket containing 20 times the amount of lead that Canada’s health department considers safe for children. The lead seemed to come from the pigment being used to dye the jacket. These chemicals being used, according to Diamond, can damage the brain and nervous system, impacting development, growth, and behavior patterns (3). Who knows what other chemicals could be on our clothing? Who knows what health risks come with those chemicals?
Shein has been reported for using Chinese slave labor for their cotton as of February 9, 2023. U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, Elizabeth Warren, and Sheldon Whitehouse (4) pressed the company for their actions and called on to increase transparency on their supply chains. They were found violating Section 307 and Section 321 of the Tariff Act of 1930. Though they have come in violation of the law, they continue to lie and not be transparent when being asked about the matter. Shein responded with,“‘As a global company, Shein takes visibility across its entire supply chain seriously. Our suppliers must adhere to a strict code of conduct (CoC), that is aligned to the International Labour Organization’s core conventions. We have zero-tolerance for forced labour.’” They also stated that they do not purchase cotton from China, “‘To further ensure compliance with US laws, Shein requires that our suppliers purchase cotton from Australia, Brazil, India, US and other approved regions’”(5). Shein does seem to tolerate forced labor and the Unites States are obviously not investigating close enough into this issue because U.S. citizens have been able to contribute to the forced labor for as long as Shein has been available. Using slave labor for cotton production can make clothing prices cheap, though not $2.50 cheap. There are more factors to this low price tag.
Cotton is not the only fabric being used. Polyester clothing is becoming much more popular because of its durability and cheapness. Even more popular than cotton. Polyester is a form of plastic, meaning that it will never decompose, compared to cotton which will decompose in five months. Phthalates, a group of chemicals, is often used in polyester production to make it more durable. Research has shown that phthalates can mimic hormones and interfere with hormones through the endocrine system(6). In the long run, this can cause serious health effects such as extreme weight fluctuations, fatigue and even infertility. Polyester and its chemicals are already incredibly harmful to humans, meaning that it can be even more harmful to the environment. During production and during decomposition, the toxic chemicals bleed into the soil and could possibly reach nearby waterways, contaminating the surrounding environment.
Many brands, not just fast fashion, use greenwashing to pull in more customers. Greenwashing is when a company or brand releases false statements about how they are caring about the environment. Other than talking about how they have “zero-tolerance” for forced labor and do not source fabric from China, Shein sells rayon clothing as a more eco-friendly substitute to polyester or cotton. Rayon is derived from trees such as eucalyptus, bamboo, soy, and cotton branches. Because rayon is made from wood, this leads to incredible amounts of deforestation. More than 200 million trees are logged each year for fabric production. The process is often done by clear cutting which is when trees are harvested by removing all or most of the trees in that area. Companies do this because of the economic advantages, though there are many more negatives that outweigh this factor. Clear cutting and deforestation both increase soil erosion. Soil erosion is when there is a loss of stabilizing root structure. This leads to the soil's organic matter and nutrients to be removed, and for sediments to leak into nearby streams. This leads to warmer water which disrupts the ecosystem and its beings. As stated by the United States Geological survey, “Warm water holds less dissolved oxygen than cool water, and may not contain enough dissolved oxygen for the survival of different species of aquatic life”(7). Another impact of clear cutting and deforestation is flooding and landslides. This is a result of the machines that cut the trees constantly compacting the soil, with less trees, there is less shade, ultimately drying out the soil, and the loss of root structure and erosion of topsoil. All of these factors decrease the water holding capacity of soil. Another impact is its effect on the air quality. Cutting trees releases CO2 and these greenhouse gasses decrease humidity and increase particulates which ultimately create global warming and climate change. In addition to deforestation being a negative impact from the use of rayon, viscose is a chemical needed in the process of changing the wood pulp into a fiber. Viscose is associated with coronary heart disease, psycho-physiological and central nervous system, retinal angiopathy, skin conditions (8), and so much more. The chemical actively harms our health, though with being in the fabric production process, this means that it can find ways to get into our air and waterways when decomposing in a landfill, making them even more dangerous.
After the fabric has been made and is actively and negatively impacting your health, it continues to harm the environment. The average American washes their clothes after every 1-2 wears (9). This can already seem bad because of the water usage since it takes around 15-20 gallons of water per load, though the harm does not stop there. Since clothes are infused with massive amounts of chemicals, they will be released into waterways after each laundry load. With clothes made with polyester fabrics, they will release microplastics along with the chemicals they were made with. Washing clothes so often will also lead to them wearing down much faster than needed. This further contributes to the societal desire and need to consume more clothes.
The harm of clothing does not stop once it is thrown away. Up to 100 billion garments are produced each year through the fashion industry, though not every piece of clothing is going to be bought and massive amounts are going to be thrown away by consumers. 85% of clothes end up in landfills while the other 15% get recycled (10). Clothes that are thrown away, whether it is new or used, will be shipped out to an underdeveloped country or sent to landfills. This doesn’t seem like an issue because landfills are located, designed, operated, and monitored so that they protect the environment from its contaminants, though this is all done with being blind to what fast fashion entails. If clothing was 100% biodegradable, this would not be an issue. Microplastics and chemicals are released into the soil and can lead to nearby waterways. The clothes also emit greenhouse gasses when decomposing, such as carbon dioxide and methane gas. The process of decomposing, once again, harms environments, animals, humans, and ultimately contributes to global warming and climate change.
In the United States, there are no federal standards or regulations for what specific chemicals can be used in the production of clothing for adults and sold to consumers. On the other hand, a variety of phthalates are banned from being in children's clothing. This includes all clothing made and sold in the U.S. This step in a more sustainable clothing world should also reflect on adult clothing because phthalates can harm all. The European Union has banned more than 30 chemicals for use in fashion, and they will reject shipments at the border (11), but its testing program is not as beneficial and impactful as it can be. The Environmental Protection Agency needs to have better regulations on the fast fashion industry, specifically the chemical use.
In March of 2023, California District 29 Senator Josh Newman pushed the Responsible Textile Recovery Act of 2023. As stated on Senator Newman's website, the act would work towards recycling clothes and fabric to apparel, accessories, handbags, backpacks, draperies, shower curtains, furnishings, upholstery, bedding, towels, napkins, tablecloths (12), and the list goes on. This act is a good step towards sustainable living, though it is focused on the aftermath of the fashion industry, not changing its production style, which is the greater issue. Repurposing these fabrics continues the life of chemicals, allowing it to continue to harm the Earth and its beings. Though even with these points, repurposing fabrics is still a very important step in lowering the amount of waste fashion companies produce. There should be more than the current 15% of clothing that is recycled, because nearly 100% clothing is able to do so.
The Toxic Substances Control Act was updated in 2016, furthering the chemical oversight and testing on clothing that is made in the United States (13). This act is a good step, though not impactful enough because it is limited to clothes made in the United States. Only 3% of the clothing Americans wear is made in the United States. Majority comes from China due to its incredibly cheap price tag. To make this act further impactful it should review the chemicals in clothes that the U.S. is selling, not just making. Another act is The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act which only regulates the levels of phthalates and lead in children’s clothing. The Environmental Protection Agency has lowered the possible and available impact of this act because manufacturers have stated that fabrics such as cotton and polyester do not contain high levels of lead, so the EPA does not justify the expense of testing for phthalates or lead in the fabrics. Phthalates and lead are very harmful and the regulation of them is very necessary, so there should be the same regulation for child and adult clothing and for more chemicals of the same or greater harm.
The Clean Water Standards for PFAS Act was introduced by Representative Chris Pappas from New Hampshire and would force the EPA to have limits on water discharge limits on PFAS from the manufacturing of chemicals, paint, paper, plastics, electrical components, and textiles (14). This act is great, for it limits the amount of chemicals in our local waterways, though the act should branch more into clothing production. A similar law is California’s Proposition 65. The law was made in 1986 and California updates a list of chemicals at least once a year and has currently more than 800 listed. The law states that, “no person in the course of doing business shall knowingly and intentionally expose any individual to a chemical known to the State to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without first giving a clear and reasonable warning”(15). Since the law is only subject to California, it only affects things that are made in California, which in the grand scheme of things is an incredibly low percent. This law is exactly what the entirety of the United States needs for it would not only be beneficial to humans but would protect the environment as a whole.
The government also needs to be more strict about slave labor. Even if slave labor is not happening in the U.S., Americans are still contributing to the problem by selling/purchasing clothing made with slave labor. Section 1584 of Title 18 states that it is unlawful to obtain the labor or services of a person by threat and/or harm (16). This law is active in the U.S., meaning that they have no say in Shein’s form of labor, for they are a Chinese company. This law is needed, though should expand into what the U.S. is contributing to. As said, the U.S. and its citizens are contributing to forced labor by supporting and purchasing from Shein. This is unlawful and there should be more oversight into what the United States is allowing its citizens to contribute to.
As I was writing this paper, I kept remembering more and more issues when it comes to the fast fashion industry. Starting with chemicals, then remembering labor treatment, remembering water usage, remembering fabric waste, remembering microplastics, the list goes on. It was hard staying on track with my argument because of everything I wanted and needed to talk about. The process of writing this paper proves how much needs to be done to better the fast fashion industry. Majority of American society is blind to how their simple, white cotton t-shirt is harming their health, other peoples, and the environment. Fast fashion brands need to be more transparent with where they are sourcing their materials, how ethical their labor methods are, what chemicals they are using, why they are using those chemicals, the negatives of those chemicals, how to sustainably wash your clothes, et cetera. This progress and change ultimately starts with the government and their regulations.
Work Cited
(1)World Wildlife Fund. (n.d.). Cott. WWF. https://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/cotton
(2)ScienceDirect- R. Al-Tohamy, S. Ali, F. Li, K. Okasha, Y. Mahmoud, T. Elsamahy, H. Jiao, Y. Fu, J. Sun (2022, January 10). A critical review on the treatment of dye-containing wastewater: Ecotoxicological and health concerns of textile dyes and possible remediation approaches for environmental safety. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147651321012720
(3)CBC/Radio Canada. (2021, December 9). Health Canada recalls toxic Shein Kids’ jacket following CBC Investigation | CBC news. CBCnews. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/health-canada-recall-shein-kids-jacket-1.6279903
(4)Cassidy, Warren, Whitehouse Press Shein on connection to Chinese slave labor supply chains. U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy. (n.d.). https://www.cassidy.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cassidy-warren-whitehouse-press-shein-on-connection-to-chinese-slave-labor-supply-chains/
(5)Safaya, S. (2023, February 13). Shein slammed again by US senators over “possible use” of Xinjiang Cotton. Just Style. https://www.just-style.com/news/shein-slammed-again-by-us-senators-over-possible-use-of-xinjiang-cotton/
(6)Safaya, S. (2023, February 13). Shein slammed again by US senators over “possible use” of Xinjiang Cotton. Just Style. https://www.just-style.com/news/shein-slammed-again-by-us-senators-over-possible-use-of-xinjiang-cotton/
(7)Temperature and water completed. Temperature and Water | U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.). https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/temperature-and-water
(8)The health effects of viscose production. Sustainable Fashion. (n.d.). https://sustainfashion.info/the-health-effects-of-viscose-production/
(9)Team, F. & C. (2017, December 21). American laundry habits show shocking results. Fresh & Clean Laundry. https://www.freshcleanlaundromat.com/american-laundry-habits-show-shocking-results/
(10)The environmental crisis caused by textile waste. RoadRunner Modern Waste + Recycling. (n.d.). https://www.roadrunnerwm.com/blog/textile-waste-environmental-crisis
(11)US policies. Fashion FWD. (n.d.). https://www.fashionfwd.org/uspolicies
(12)California introduces act for Responsible Textile Disposal and Reuse. Senator Josh Newman. (n.d.). https://sd29.senate.ca.gov/news/news/california-introduces-act-responsible-textile-disposal-and-reuse
(13)US policies. Fashion FWD. (n.d.). https://www.fashionfwd.org/uspolicies
(14)US policies. Fashion FWD. (n.d.). https://www.fashionfwd.org/uspolicies
(15)US policies. Fashion FWD. (n.d.). https://www.fashionfwd.org/uspolicies
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