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Pesticide Action Network
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Dioxins from PCP Treated Cotton
November 18, 1994
According to a study published earlier this year, German
scientists have found that cotton clothing containing high
levels of dioxins may be a significant source of both human
exposure and environmental contamination. The use of the
organochlorine pentachlorophenol (PCP) during the transport
of cotton may be a primary source of the dioxins. The
scientists feel that textile contamination accounts for the
presence of dioxins and furans in domestic sewage sludge, dry
cleaning residues and household dust, and also explains how
certain dioxins not found in the food supply accumulate in
humans.
The researchers analyzed new cotton garments and found that
most had low dioxin levels of 0.001 to 1 ppb; however, some
garments had levels as high as 1,000 ppb. The scientists
showed that dioxin levels in the outer layer of volunteersU
skins varied with the contamination of the t-shirts worn.
Researchers could not find any patterns to the contamination,
and dioxin contents of identical pieces from the same source
sometimes differed by a factor of 20 or more. This variation
indicates that the dioxins do not always originate from a
textile finishing process since a much more homogenous
contamination of the fabric would be expected.
Scientists also found that when RcleanS t-shirts were washed
with contaminated ones, 7% of the dioxin and furan content
was transferred to the clean shirts and 16% washed out into
the sewage system. The researchers measured dioxin levels in
household laundry runoff and estimated that they contributed
between 27-94% of total dioxin and furan inputs to a local
sewage treatment plant that handles primarily domestic
sewage. Shower and bath water was also found to contain
dioxins of textile origin washed from the skin, adding to
contamination of the runoff.
Dioxins and furans are found as impurities in various
formulations of PCP. This chemical is widely used as a
preservative to prevent mildew during storage and sea
transport of cotton. In 1987, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency prohibited all non-wood uses of PCP, except
for some uses in paper mills and oil wells, and use of PCP in
the European Union (EU) is restricted to heavy duty fabrics
not intended for clothing. However, most treated cloth comes
countries where there are fewer restrictions on the use of
PCP.
PCP and its sodium salt may be used to control bacterial and
fungal growth in working fluids and process chemicals used to
treat textiles. Recent textile industry research shows that
as much as half of the PCP stays in cloth during the
finishing process. The same type of dioxins have also been
found in some dyestuffs and in sodium hypochlorite used to
bleach cotton.
Source: ENDS Report 235, August 1994; M. Horstmann and M.
McLachlan, Environmental Science and Pollution Research,
Vol1(1), 1994; PCP (Non-wood Uses) Special Review Document,
U.S. EPA Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, November
1984.
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