Is your T-Shirt going to give you cancer? Believe it or not your T-Shirt could be made out of toxic materials. In fact, the cheaper the T-shirt is the more likely it is to cause problems with your health. If it is made out of polyester it might be quite toxic. If it is from an Asian country you might also definitely be in risk of getting poisoned slowly by the garment. That s because your T-shirt is actually made out of a very toxic oil product.
Polyester is made of carcinogens. If you wear a cheap one you risk poisoning as it leaches into your skin. To protect yourself try buying shirts that are a little more high end and stay away from bins of T-shirts that look like they are heavily or cheaply dyed.
How on earth did we end up selling these toxic polyester t-shrits in the first place?
First off making them out of polyester is cheap in every way. However the manufacturing of polyester is expensive for our environment. The material is made from refined petroleum that is flash heated at 800 degrees Celcius. A heavy metal such as antimony is added so that the resulting ethylene turns into a goo that in the end is cooled and becomes fabric. This is what we are wearing against our skin when we wear polyester. It is a creation of heavy metals and petroleum.
The scary thing about this is that if you sweat you might be leaching out these chemicals into your skin. You might want to think twice before you consider working out in a T-shirt because a Danish study found that as much as ten percent of the chemicals found in a polyester t-shirt might possibly end up on your skin.
Printed T-shirts are equally toxic. Discharged print ink can also degrade and be absorbed by the skin over time. That is why it is not a good idea to sleep in a polyester or printed ink T-shirt if you can help it.
So how do you protect yourself from this sort of subtle and creeping toxic overload. Try buying all natural all of the time. Natural organic cotton T-shirts are much better choices both for day and night wear. Avoid clothing with poisonous dyes and if you see a T-shirt bleeding dyes and colors or if it actually discolors your skin – don’t wear it and throw it out!