Researcher believes our clothes should be labelled like food products
"We have no idea what clothes contain," says clothing researcher.
Published
"I'm not very good at washing new clothes," says Sophia Nicole Harrington.
But second-hand clothes are washed.
"Imagine if someone has sweated in them," says Mathilde Østbye-Nærheim.
That is not an issue with new clothes.
However, according to researchers, they can contain completely different things than sweat – and be even dirtier.
Find lots of chemicals
So what happens when researchers test new clothes?
They find thousands of chemicals.
"Some of the chemicals are among the worst," says researcher Ketil Hylland.
They can affect how easily we get sick. Or even how we feel.
"This is something we as clothing consumers should know about," says researcher Ingun Grimstad Klepp.
The chemicals do not stay in your t-shirt.
"They can leak out when it gets wet, or when the person wearing it sweats," says Hylland.
Like a ketchup bottle
Klepp says that people in Norway often believe that what they buy is safe.
"That's not always the case. We need better information from those who make our clothes," she says.
Klepp believes we need to know what has been used on the clothes.
Imagine the back of a ketchup bottle. All the ingredients are listed there.
On a pair of trousers, it could say:
'Contains cotton, blue dye, and a chemical against wrinkles. Should be washed before use.'
No overview of what's in new clothes
"How much do we know about the chemicals present in clothes?"
"We have no idea what's in new clothes," says Klepp.
"Why do clothing manufacturers use so many chemicals?"
"They give clothes various properties," says Klepp.
Some chemicals give clothes colour. Others ensure that they don't wrinkle.
Do you have a waterproof jacket? If so, it has probably been treated with chemicals.
Absorbs the air around the clothes
New regulations aim to make our clothes safer.
"The EU has a regulation called REACH," says Klepp.
It is meant to force companies selling clothes to choose safe chemicals.
"Can we actually check that the regulations are being followed?"
Alexander Sandtorv is a chemist. He believes it is possible.
"Yes. Fantastic research makes it possible to find out what kinds of chemicals are on clothes," he says.
It is actually possible to absorb the air around a pair of trousers or a sweater.
In this way, researchers can check which chemicals are hiding in the fabric without damaging it.
Wear clothes for a long time!
The smartest thing is to buy few clothes – and use them for a long time.
"The more clothes are washed, the fewer chemicals remain," says Klepp.
"So, would it be smart to buy second-hand clothes then?"
"Yes, because they may have been washed many times," she says.
But the more we know about chemicals, the stricter the regulations become.
"Old clothes may have been made before the stricter regulations were implemented," she says.
Clothes should have a date on them, she believes.
"Then we could track which clothes were made before and after the new regulations," she says.
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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik
Read the Norwegian version of this article on ung.forskning.no
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