100% Pure Cotton = A Chemical Cocktail

Does the label on that newly bought tee from H&M or Versace say 100% pure cotton? The reality is that the cotton is anything but pure. And what is not on the label is of far greater concern than what is.

Did you know, for instance, that the clothing you are currently wearing almost certainly contains both formaldehyde and heavy metals such as mercury? Both cheap and expensive conventionally manufactured clothing is treated with formaldehyde to help retain the garments shape and structure, while mercury is used as a fixer during dying. A further 200 plus chemicals will be used during the manufacture of a garment, and this is on top of the cocktail of chemical fertiliser, pesticides, and herbicides used during growing. All of these chemicals remain within the textile of a garment for at least ten washes after purchase. As human skin is porous we are regularly exposed to small doses of a vast array of chemicals. Indeed many people suffer from eczema and other skin complaints unwittingly brought on by such exposure.

This dependency on chemicals during growing and manufacturing of conventional cotton relies on vast quantities of water. Indeed Uzbekistan (a major cotton producer) has destroyed the Aral Sea due to poor and improper water management (much of which is a Soviet era legacy.) In turn chemicals end up seeping into ground water and this together with workers exposure to chemicals during application leads to ill health and shortened life expectancy within conventional cotton farming and manufacturing communities.

And who pays for this chemical cocktail. Why the farmers of course. In true Darwinian fashion pests and weeds quickly evolve and in doing so force the grower to apply ever greater quantities of pesticide. And as intensive farming practices revolve around the principle of growing a single crop in the same location year after year after year, the soil becomes quickly denuded of its own supply of nutrients requiring the application of more and more chemical fertilisers.

This downward spiral not only leaves water courses poisoned, land infertile and the local population ill, but it also leaves farmers in an increasing mountain of debt as they have to borrow more money to buy more chemicals while the price (what the farmer is paid) of conventional cotton remains the same or even falls.

GM/GMO/Bt cotton to the rescue?

For years now Monsanto, Aventis, and others (all heavily supported by the American government) have promoted genetically modified seed as the answer to all these problems. GM cotton, it has been suggested by Biotech companies, will need only one application of pesticide/herbicide/fertiliser and will produce greater yields. Cotton varieties that require less water will be magiced from out of nothing. And the hall world will be a better, healthier, more prosperous place. Sadly the truth so far has been a little more predictable and a whole lot more damaging for both the health of local populations and the environment.

Bt cotton in India has shown only marginally greater yields in the first three years, after which yield falls and ever increasing quantities of pesticide have to be applied to combat super pests. This has led many farmers to commit suicide as they are unable to reap the promised rewards of greater yields promised by the biotech firms and instead must meet spiralling costs.

In short GM cotton is no knight in shining armour, but rather exacerbates environmental and social degradation.

the terramar.co.uk classic organic cotton tee


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