TAINTED UNTIL 2020

When you next read a review of a golf shirt made by one of the big sports brands; Nike, Adidas, Puma, please put the following disclaimer underneath:

We really didn’t want our consumers to know about all the hazardous chemicals we use in our supply chains, including the banned nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE's), which cause hormonal disruptions. But now that research from Greenpeace has ‘let the cat out the bag’, we have reluctantly agreed to announce a commitment to act together to try and ‘detox’ our hazardous chemical usage by 2020. Obviously we still want our customers to purchase our chemically tainted shirts until that time or when Greenpeace give us a clean bill of health.

Adidas spokeswoman said “We have been clear with Greenpeace from the beginning and have always said we need an industry-wide solution in order to succeed – there can be no winners unless the industry acts together.”

What is alarming to me about this statement from Adidas is that they could not see the benefit of unilateral action for it’s own customer's and textile-worker's safety.

The effects of NPE’s can be seen over the long term; these compounds don’t kill you dead on the spot, they have very subtle, long term effects and they can act in very small concentrations.

NPE’s can disrupt the body’s hormonal system by mimicking the female hormone oestrogen. And high oestrogen levels have been linked to birth defects, learning disabilities even some forms of cancer.

These chemicals are toxic, they aren’t biodegradable and they can cause all sorts of problems.

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