A recent report by Greenpeace, reveals that garments and shoes made for children by reputed brands are unsafe as they contain potentially harmful chemicals.
Greenpeace, a non profitable organization, primarily dealing with environment conservation carried out their Detox survey on products from 12 world famous brands like Adidas, Burberry, Disney, American Apparel, GAP, Primark, Nike and others. The tests were conducted on around 82 products from 12 different countries.
The results were shocking as most of the products were found to have one or more harmful chemicals that have the potential to cause hormone disruptions. "Unfortunately, many of the chemicals tested for are known to disrupt our hormone systems, and mess with the normal development of our bodies," reads a recent post on their official blog. "We may only see these adverse effects much later in lives of our children."
Not only human beings but wildlife and other natural resources are also at risk from these chemicals, states the report. Most of the outfits were found to contain nonylphenol ethoxylate that has been banned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its adverse effect on hormones. Over 61 percent of the items were detected with the chemical, primarily products from C&A, Disney and American Apparel, reports dw.de.
Cancer causing element, perfluoroctane acid, was also detected in some products of Adidas.
Phthalate, said to cause infertility, was found in a considerable number of products. Thirty three of the 35 products tested positive for the chemical.
Organotin, a kind of fungicide, was found to be present mostly in shoes. Out of five shoe brands, three carried organotins, Puma shoes had the highest concentration of the chemical.
"This is a nightmare for parents everywhere who wants their children to wear clothes that don't contain hazardous chemicals," said Abigail Aguilar, Campaigner for Toxics, Greenpeace, Southeast Asia, in a statement.
Greenpeace came up with similar results on high-street garments in 2012 and also organized a fashion show demonstrating the harmful effects of the chemicals used in such clothes, reports medicalexpress.
Greenpeace has called for parents to keep track of such manufacturing abuse and report them immediately.
