When I look at these shockingly colourful pictures of clothes manufacturing in China, it is a stark reminder that you don’t always know the full story behind the production of your kid's garments. The Greenpeace labs carried out tests on 82 children's textiles from 12 brands, including Burberry, which revealed hazardous, potentially hormone-disrupting chemicals like nonylphenol ethoxylates in various products. So the use of toxic chemicals in kids clothing during their manufacture in countries like China, is still widely spread.
These pictures, illustrating the working conditions of Chinese factory workers, will pop into my head the next time I shop for that cool, brightly coloured shirt for my kids. Join me in asking brands like Burberry to eleminate toxic chemicals in their products to ensure a toxic free future worldwide.
Workers prepare their workspace for the next set of fabrics to be screened with paints and dyes in a textile factory in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province. ©Jeff Lau/Greenpeace
The paint storage areas located in children's clothing factories are often cluttered with open paint canisters and buckets. ©Jeff Lau/Greenpeace
Workers spend their day assembling children's wear in a textile factory in Huzhou, China. ©Jeff Lau/Greenpeace
A Chinese worker prepares to retrieve a stack of dyed textile at a dyeing factory in Shishi city of Fujian Province. ©Liu Feiyue/Greenpeace
"Littlle Monsters" escape from a waste water pipe in China, this photo illustration is designed to bring visibility to an invisible problem - the presence of hazardous chemicals in our children's clothes and in our lives. ©Greenpeace
A mother and child find "Little Monsters" lurking in their laundry in this photo illustration.which is designed to bring visibility to an invisible problem of toxic chemicals. ©Greenpeace
A scientist carries out an analysis of hazardous chemicals in textile samples at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories at Exeter University. ©Alex Stoneman/Greenpeace
Clothing from Burberry and others were tested as part of the Greenpeace Detox campaign report. ©Emma Stoner/Greenpeace
The Burberrry store in Oxford Street, clothes from this brand were tested for hazardous chemicals. ©Emma Stoner/Greenpeace
More than one hundred children create a human banner in Mexico, demanding a toxic free future. ©Ivan Castaneira/Greenpeace
