Chemicals in Primark clothes "same as those" detected in River Ness

CLOTHES sold by a leading fashion retailer with a store in the city contain traces of "gender bender" chemicals found in the River Ness, Greenpeace has claimed.

According to the eco-charity, traces of nonylphenols (NPs) were found in five out of six items of Primark clothing they examined.

The news comes after studies published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) last week revealed the presence of NPs in 20 rivers across Scotland, including the Ness and Nairn River at Jubilee Bridge.

The toxin has the potential to accumulate in the body and disrupt hormones. Tests on mice shrank testicles and reduced male fertility. It is banned in Europe, but is still used by Chinese and other non-EU clothing manufacturers in the dyeing processes.

Primark is among a long list of companies which import clothing from non-EU and far eastern countries.

Products by Adidas, Nike, Puma and Disney were also among those found by Greenpeace to contain hazardous chemicals.When tainted clothes are washed, the chemicals escape and end up in rivers.

Sepa said the chemical was toxic to wildlife, persistent in the environment and built up in fish, birds and some animals but concentrations in only one of the tested rivers — the River Irvine — breached safe guidelines.

However, some experts believe that endocrine disrupters could affect humans, even in tiny doses equivalent to a teaspoonful in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Greenpeace spokesman Kevin Brigden said Sepa’s results were concerning: "While most of the rivers are not breaching the limits, that does not necessarily mean that everything is OK."

The charity has warned that the problem is huge and two-thirds of the clothing it tested in China contained hazardous chemicals.

But the problem is not just confined to the far east — 50 of the 82 products bought by Greenpeace scientists across 25 different countries tested positive.

It estimates that there are around 5,000 different chemicals used in the textile industry and little is known about their hazardous properties.

The tests were conducted last summer but only made public this year.

Primark has since signed up to a Greenpeace commitment to eliminate hazardous chemicals from its clothing by 2020.

In the commitment signed by the firm, it says it is committed to a target of zero discharges of all hazardous chemicals by no later than 1st January 2020.

Responding to Greenpeace’s test results, a spokeswoman for the company said: "Primark has a stringent chemical management policy in place which complies fully with EU legislation.

"This policy is supported by a programme of due diligence and scrutiny to ensure our products comply at all times with these legal requirements and are safe for our customers to use and wear.

"Beyond this, Primark recognises the importance of continuing to evolve its chemical management policy in line with industry best practice and of continuing to minimise the environmental impact of textile manufacturing processes.

"As a result, Primark has committed to working with industry and other stakeholders to achieve the goal of zero discharge of hazardous chemicals within the textile supply chain by 2020.

"The detail of this commitment is outlined in Primark’s Detox Solution agreed in conjunction with Greenpeace."

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