Fashion for the Earth
Hazardous Hems: How Fashion Wreaks Havoc on Health
October 23, 2025
Fashion is a powerful form of self-expression, with people curating their own unique collection of clothing to express their individuality. However, behind the vibrant layers of fabric made to suit a diverse audience lies an incredibly harmful manufacturing industry.
While the harmful effects from the fashion industry mainly go unnoticed by consumers, especially those in Global North countries such as the United States, individuals in the Global South cannot ignore the impacts that textile manufacturing has on their health and the environment. Countries in the Global South that face significant negative impacts of textile production include, but are not limited to, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, South, and Southeast Asia such as Ghana, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.
Global textile production is predicted to grow from 109 million tonnes in 2020 to 145 million tonnes by 2030. Already, the textile industry has caused serious adverse health effects for not just garment workers, but individuals who live near textile factories or those who feel the effects downstream. As the textile industry continues to experience an increase in productivity, more attention should be focused on those who bear the brunt of the harms of textile manufacturing.
Poison in the Process
Even before materials enter factories, the beginning stages of textile production expose workers to harmful chemicals. Conventional cotton, which makes up many inexpensive cotton products, uses pesticides during the growing process. In Burkina Faso, for example, more than 90% of total pesticides used in the country are for cotton farming. One of the most commonly used pesticides in Africa is profenofos. It is designated a World Health Organization hazard Class II and banned in over 34 countries due to its negative public health and environmental impact. Profenofos can disrupt the nervous system, causing nausea, dizziness, and at high exposures, respiratory paralysis.
Globally, there are 300,000 deaths from pesticide poisoning each year, with 3 million cases of severe acute poisoning occurring. Severe cases of pesticide poisoning can result in heart, lung or kidney failure. Acute poisoning includes symptoms such as skin and eye irritation, headache, difficulty breathing, and seizures. In many low-income countries, a lack of personal protective equipment further contributes to pesticide exposure among agricultural workers.
During the textile manufacturing process, workers are also exposed to a number of harmful chemicals. The clothing industry uses over 8,000 chemicals in the manufacturing process, including over 3,600 textile dyes. From the dyeing process alone, there are 72 toxic chemicals used. These chemicals, including azo dyes and synthetic dyes, are carcinogenic. Toxic chemicals can be absorbed through the skin. Azo dyes can release cancer-causing materials and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), used for flame retardancy, can cause cancers and suppress the immune system.
Man Made Cellulosic Fibers (MMCF) are regenerative fibers made of cellulose and include common fabrics such as Lyocell and Viscose. Carbon disulfide is used in the production of Viscose to treat cellulosic pulp, which is material primarily obtained from trees. Exposure to this chemical can result in numerous adverse health impacts, including toxic degenerative brain disease and nerve damage. Chronic exposure can result in an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. Additionally, sodium hydroxide, which is used to dissolve the pulp, can result in severe burns and eye damage if it makes direct contact with the skin. For garment workers in countries such as Bangladesh, low safety measures and poor ventilation increase their exposure to toxic chemicals and likelihood of adverse health impacts.
Toxic Tides
Not only does chemical exposure harm garment workers, but chemical runoff from manufacturing facilities flows into nearby waterways and harms aquatic life, communities, and food sources. The chemicals used can make water unfit for consumption as it can damage sewage pipes, allowing waste and harmful materials to enter drinking water supplies. Chemicals used during the dyeing and finishing process are not biodegradable, meaning they do not decompose and remain present and harmful in the environment over a long period of time.
Dyes can prevent sunlight from penetrating bodies of water, which can harm aquatic vegetation that relies on photosynthesis to produce nutrients. 60 to 70% of azo dyes, which are one type of clothing dye, are carcinogenic. Synthetic dyes released into aquifers have potential cancer and mutation causing effects on aquatic life and can stunt their growth. In humans, contact with wastewater containing these dyes and other chemicals used in textile manufacturing can cause allergies, dermatitis, skin irritation, cancers, and mutations.
In bodies of water and tap water in parts of Bangladesh with garment factories, there are dangerously high levels of “forever chemicals,” which can cause a variety of illnesses and certain cancers. “Forever chemicals” are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which can persist in the environment and human body for years and accumulate in living organisms over time. Untreated industrial waste from textile factories are often released directly into rivers used for domestic activities such as washing clothes. In Lesotho, the Mokohare River has been dyed blue and shows high levels of contamination as a result of denim manufacturing. Due to waste from its many textile factories, parts of the Msimbazi River in Tanzania have pH levels as high as 12, making it dangerous for the communities that rely on the water essential for their everyday lives.
A study done in West Bengal highlighted the impacts of improperly treated textile wastewater on local agriculture. It was found that crops such as papaya and guava had lead concentrations that exceeded the WHO’s permissible limits. These crops were watered with improperly treated wastewater containing heavy metals, which were absorbed through the soil by plants. Heavy metal exposure can result in neurological sickness, damage to the gastrointestinal tract, and kidney, joint, and reproductive system malfunctions.
Warming Wardrobes
Each year, it is estimated that 80 billion new items of clothing are purchased around the world. While fabrics are bought and enjoyed the most in Global North Countries, Low-Medium income countries often receive the bulk of the resulting textile waste. Countries such as the United States will “donate” clothes to Global South countries to be used as secondhand clothing. 64.5% of clothing exported by the Global North is received by developing countries. However, many articles of donated clothing are unwearable due to damages and poor quality, and are then transferred to landfills.
In Ghana, for example, about 40% of secondhand clothing becomes waste, which is about 4 to 6 million garments a week. This puts a strain on the already overwhelmed waste management system, with local bodies of water and the ocean becoming polluted with clothing. In countries without a formalized waste management system, clothing is commonly destroyed through open burning, releasing smoke, air pollutants, and greenhouse gases into the surrounding communities. Clothing in landfills can also unintentionally catch fire as gases and chemicals become trapped underneath textiles, resulting in spontaneous burning. Additionally, clothing scraps are also burned for fuel. The burning of synthetic fibers and polyester can contribute to methane emissions.
The burning of textile and other wastes contributes to the already warming climate. While climate change poses severe threats for all individuals, garment workers are specifically affected by extreme heat conditions and flooding. Areas such as India and Bangladesh, which have many garment factories, are expected to experience intensified flooding and extreme heat. Such weather conditions, combined with already poor working conditions, makes garment workers especially vulnerable to the climate crisis.
The worsening working environment as a result of climate change disproportionately impacts women and pregnant workers. Factories often do not have cooling systems or ventilation, contributing to high occupational heat exposure along with rising global temperatures. Heat exposure can have short- and long-term consequences, aggravating cardiovascular diseases and increasing one’s risk of stroke and dementia. Severe heat exposure during pregnancy can cause severe maternal health complications and harm fetuses, resulting in stillbirth and birth defects.
Global North’s Consumption, Global South’s Burden
While the consumers in the Global North overconsume clothing products, individuals in the Global South often pay the true price. The production process results in exposure to an array of harmful chemicals that are often unavoidable due to their prevalence in bodies of water and inability to break down over time. Even when articles of clothing are at the end of their cycle, they are returned to Global South countries which are often overwhelmed by the vast quantities of waste received. The mass production in the clothing industry contributes greatly to global warming, posing major threats to workers in factories who often face the most severe effects of climate change.
As textile manufacturing continues to have increasingly harmful effects on human health and the environment, it is crucial for there to be greater protections for individuals working in the industry and those who are impacted by environmental pollution resulting from manufacturing. If you are interested in learning more about the impacts of clothing production, check out EARTHDAY.ORG’s Fashion for the Earth campaign, and sign our petition to support greater regulations in the fashion industry.
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