(March 21, 2012) Environmental activists in the Philippines said on Wednesday
that chemical residues in clothing sold by big name brands are washed into public
waterways and contribute to pollution. Members of Greenpeace held a rally near a river
in Metro Manila, where they launched a report entitled “Dirty Laundry: Reloaded.”
The report supports their claim that the chemicals in the clothing enter the rivers,
lakes and seas and then breaks down into even more toxic and hormone-disrupting substances. The
Greenpeace study measured the amount of hazardous nonylphenol ethoxylates washed out
during simulated standard domestic laundering conditions of 14 items. The results
showed that consumer brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren, and Calvin
Klein, are unknowingly polluting the public water supplies in regions and countries
around the world, including those, where there are restrictions or bans on the use
of these chemicals,” said Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace Southeast Asia’s toxics campaigner.
She said while other countries try to improve measures protecting their citizens from
hazardous chemicals, the Philippines is steps behind in terms of regulations on hazardous
chemicals. Greenpeace challenged global clothing and footwear brands to eliminate
all releases of hazardous chemicals from their supply chains and products by 2020.