Apparel brands often fail to disclose the chemicals they use in their manufacturing. They have no publicly-available policies about their use of toxic chemicals.

Toxic chemicals in textile manufacturing are bad for the planet and workers. And sometimes they remain in the fabric when sold, so they could be harming the end consumer as well. If not properly managed, these chemicals can end up in rivers and the oceans, harming marine ecosystems and migrating to drinking water. About 20 per cent of overall industrial water pollution can be attributed to textile manufacturing. Synthetic indigo is often used to dye denim jeans blue, but the chemical cocktail used often includes formaldehyde, which is toxic to the environment and people. In China an estimated 70 per cent of rivers and lakes are contaminated by billions of gallons of wastewater from the textile and dye industry.

Apparel manufacturing is a dirty business. More than 8,000 chemicals are used throughout the textile-making process, from pesticides in growing cotton and other fibers, to bleaching and dying yarns, to washing fabrics, to printing patterns. This amounts to an estimated 43 million tons of chemicals every year. Heavy metals used in dyeing can be carcinogenic and damaging to the nervous system. Azo dyes, the most frequently used dyes, can release carcinogenic chemicals into the air during the dyeing process.