September 23, 2024/
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Kalki Fashion explores the hidden dangers of toxic chemicals in ultra-fast fashion and how it impacts your health
Over the past few years, ultra-fast fashion has grown at an alarming rate, offering low prices and a constantly updated collection to consumers. However, beneath the thin icing of affordable and trendy clothing lies a darker reality: most chemicals used in the production of ultra-fast fashion are hazardous to human health and that of the environment. Kalki Fashion takes a look into the unknown dangers posed by these poisonous elements and what can be done regarding them.
Ultra-fast fashion is said to have built an empire based on speed and cost-effectiveness. In terms of safe production practices, crucial corners have cut their way into the rise of ultra-fast fashion. Manufacturers try to put out yet another new clothing line in record time while relying heavily on toxic chemicals to treat fabrics, dye garments, and ensure cheap production. These chemicals include formaldehyde, azo dyes, and phthalates-all substances linked to serious health issues ranging from respiratory problems, skin irritation, and the formation of cancer. Kalki Fashion insists that most of these dangerous chemicals are found in garments we wear daily.
As much as some nations have imposed regulations in the use of particular chemicals within the clothing, the ultra-fast fashion global scenario makes full-scale compliance impossible. International markets receive, from countries with weak regulations, most products that were created. Consumers unknowingly use items of clothing that might harm their health.
Another disturbing feature of fast fashion is the ubiquity of toxic chemicals that consumers most probably do not know of. Independent investigations coupled with lab testing have established high levels of hazardous substances in many fast-fashion brands. Toxic substances such as heavy metals, including lead and cadmium, are applied throughout the dye, finishes, and treatments in dyes, finishings, and fabric treatments to secure the bright colors, soft textures, and durability of clothes.
According to Kalki Fashion, some of the most common villains are polyester and synthetic fibers. These are saturated with flame retardants, water repellents, and other toxic chemicals, making them strong and waterproof but rather dangerous to the fabric’s interior and other human skin surfaces.
This has much to do with the demand of the industry for clothing that is very quick, inexpensive, and aesthetically pleasing. Polyester and nylon, both synthetic fibers, are substantially cheaper than natural fibers such as cotton or wool. Producers require a cocktail of chemicals in order to achieve vibrant colors, stretch, and durability expected by consumers of trendy fashion, some of which are far from safe.
In addition, pressure from ultra-fast fashion for cost-cutting and profit maximization forces manufacturers to cut corners with regards to fabric production and lab safety testing on chemicals. Kalki Fashion opines that the quest for inexpensive, high-turnover garment is generally driving the use of hazardous chemicals in apparel.
While health hazards loom over the heads of consumers who don their chemically treated clothing, this danger is much higher over the heads of the factory workers who labor to produce these garments. Chemical dyes and other chemicals are used daily without any protective gear or good ventilation at the factories. One such highly dangerous chemical used in the manufacturing of synthetic fibers is carbon disulphide. This chemical has been known to cause severe neurological damage, reproductive issues, and even death in extreme cases.
According to Kalki Fashion, people who are living around the garment factories are also suffering from dangerous health issues because these harmful chemicals are polluting the air, water, and soil mainly. Chemical wastes in factories can bring some long-term side effects to communities nearby, which may include respiratory problems, skin conditions, and more hazardous diseases. Beyond the factory floors, it goes to the very communities of the developing world as most of these clothes are sewn up by hands from their distant homelands.
This requires systemic change in the ultra-fast fashion industry. Kalki Fashion feels that tighter regulations need to be enforced on the usage of hazardous chemicals during garment production. The governments and regulations should also compile even stricter rules with enforcement mechanisms that ensure the transparency of manufacturers by keeping track of chemicals used in their products.
Apart from increased regulation, the fashion world needs to address sustainability of production. The companies can invest in natural and organic fibres like organic cotton or hemp, which have less likelihood to require chemical processing. Then, the usage of non-toxic dyeing techniques and water based finishes would reduce more chemicals exposure for laborers as well as customers.
Being a consumer, we have the power to influence the industry’s practices. Kalki Fashion nudges the customers to become more conscious of their buying habits and select brands that are transparently produced, produced ethically, and sustainable. The action of purchasing organic or ecological clothes can help reduce exposing oneself to damaging chemicals and supports brands working towards a safer, sustainable frontier in fashion.
Another way to reduce chemical exposure is to avoid synthetic fabrics as much as possible and wear as much natural material as possible, such as cotton, linen, or wool. The third strategy one can use for the reduction of chemical exposures is to wash the new clothes before wearing them. Although washing does not remove chemicals from deeper layers of clothing, surface residues can be removed to decrease the risk of exposure to chemicals.
The fast-fashion industry has an allured complex vision about its model-those large volumes and low costs-that isn’t easy to overcome overnight, but as Kalki Fashion put it so aptly, it is the consumers who are the power to demand what the brands support. We can push towards a cleaner, safer industry by choosing more ethical and eco-friendly fashion and raising awareness of the hidden dangers of toxic chemicals used in clothing.
I definitely do not have a one-size-fits-all solution for ultra-fast fashion; it requires a multifaceted approach, in the form of stricter regulations on corporates, corporate accountability, and education at the consumer level. Kalki Fashion believes that small steps taken with utmost consciousness contribute toward a more sustainable and healthful fashion world.
Fast fashion has brought very fashionable and also cheap clothing to millions of consumers. However, there have been a great cost to human health and the environment. The use of lethal chemicals in the making of these clothes poses serious risks to both workers in the garment factories and consumers and communities at large. Kalki Fashion focuses on the need for increased transparency and more rigorous controls over the usage of harmful substances in fashion manufacturing.
While real systemic change might be the one that’s needed, there is room for influence on that systemic level by conscious consumers-considering what they wear. Opting for sustainable, natural fibers, and buying from a brand that doesn’t necessarily show ethics in the same light as production quality, will help to reduce the otherwise damaging outcomes of ultra-fast fashion. Nothing replaces systemic and industrial change, but, in some ways, our individual choices would collectively alter the outcomes.
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