Do people really need organic clothes? Can't the pesticides in regular clothes just be washed out?

Answer 1

Yes, but there is still the issue of the way cotton is grown.

The pesticides as well as the dyes used on regular cotton hurt the environment.

Oh, and don't fall for bamboo clothing, it takes a lot more dye to create clothing from it.

True organic clothes are colored with vegetable dyes, or simply come in pale colors.

Answer 2

Washing out pesticides means they went somewhere, and that is probably into the streams and rivers and lakes and ocean. They don't just disappear. Most pesticides these days though, break down within a reasonable amount of time in the sun/air/water unlike DDT which is still around and very toxic many many years later. I think the two main issues with organic clothes as with organic anything are 1) human health and 2) environmental health.

Human health is affected through applying the pesticide, through the runoff of the pesticide into the water and dispersion into the air. Also residues can be a problem if the product that the pesticide is applied to, isn't allowed sit long enough for the pesticide to degrade. You can get residues on the product which are tested for, but not 100%. There was that ginger recall not too long ago? Also that pet food recall with the rat poison which is a pesticide? Those were pesticide health issues and those pesticides couldn't be washed off.

The second issue is the environmental issue. Pesticides get into the air, the water and destroy plants and insects and mammals, which aren't what they are intended to kill or harm. Washing out pesticides kills them too. Again, pesticides have to *go* somewhere. California Condors were almost driven to extinction by DDT although that was a direct application to something else. It could have been applied to cotton for clothes, who knows? It was the application, not the end product that caused the problem.

Anywho, cotton is a pretty pesticide-intensive crop because of the boll weevil and some other insects too. Alright, enough of me babbling! I hope this gives you a better feel for pesticides in general and where they go and why they may be a problem!

Answer 3

Most synthetic fabrics, from towels to dress shirts to bed linens, are treated with chemicals during and after processing. These chemicals not only leach into the environment, leaving an impact on groundwater, wildlife, air and soil, but they also may be absorbed or inhaled directly.

If you are very sensitive to chemicals, you may want to seek out organic fabrics. Even natural fabrics, such as cotton, are treated with pesticides while they are grown, and some of those pesticides will remain in the fibers. Organic fabrics are becoming more widely available and can be found in health food markets, specialty shops and online.

Here's a great site for organic clothing. there are many of these but this one has some cool stuff.

http://greenstuffconnection.com

Answer 4

The problem with the pesticides isn't as much the residue that's left in the clothes, but what is running off from applying the pesticide to the crop into the groundwater. You know, the stuff we need to drink to support life?

Answer 5

It never washes out completely. And what we do wash out ends up in our drinking water supply, rivers, and oceans.
Most people who buy organic are doing it for the lower impact on the environment and not for themselves.
Some organics are good, some are not.
Some are home grown, others come from half a world away.
Some use synthetic dyes, some use natural dyes.
Some benefit local fair trade communities, others are sweatshop.
Nothing is perfect.

Answer 6

Organic clothes are good. i would just stick to the regular clothes. I have no choice!

Answer 7

No. It doesn't matter.

Regular clothes do less damage to the environment because they need less land for the material they are made of to be grown (or not grown, in the case of synthetics).

Answer 8

Only if your a paranoid hypochondriac