Are We Threatened by Our Textiles?

Abstract

Because of unrestrainable, more and more imposed cases of alleged, never completely proved damages of persons, textiles are the object of criticism by the public. The backgrounds of that are pointed out. Orderly and conscientiously produced textiles, using modern technique, represent no source of harmfulness to people‘s health. This can be exactely assured by means of test criteria. Anyhow, this must reach the trade and the consumer. Objective education and information at the »end of the pipe« is extremely necessary. But this is the matter of the textile producer, e.g. of the textile and clothing industry. Trusting eco-labels are offering the way to this aim. A common internationale initiative of the dialog textile - wear with the eco-info, being the basic demand on the construction and production of clothing, as well as the initiative of the International community for examination and investigation in the field of textile ecology, using the brand label »textile confidence« - tested on noxiousness at the hand of Öko-Tex 100, a textile-ecological information of the trade and consumers will be initiated. The problems of textile ecology, backgrounds, targets and ways to solve the problems are summarized in this work.