Xiao Jiu used to think that being new was equal to being clean until someone said three words to me: new clothes. When you search for new clothes on the Internet, you can see many terrible results – from the renovation of the morgue, and even from contracting AIDS.
In fact, there is no need to worry about these exaggerated claims. Disease control experts pointed out: first of all, there are a lot of clothes discarded by people, of which only a few come from the morgue, and the morgue can not provide such a large number of old clothes.
Secondly, once AIDS virus leaves the body fluid environment, its survival and infection capacity will greatly decrease. Generally, it can only survive for about 7 days in a dry environment, and it is sensitive to high temperature. It loses its infectivity in 30 minutes at 56 ℃.
It is also sensitive to common disinfectants, such as 70% medical alcohol, 0.3% hydrogen peroxide, 10% hypochlorous acid, 10% bleaching powder, 5% Lysol, etc., which can be inactivated in 5 minutes. Foreign used clothes have been transported for a long time, so there is no risk of AIDS infection.
However, I can’t bear to wear new clothes without washing them. There are three real reasons: first, it is dirty; Second, it may exceed the standard of formaldehyde; Third, we are afraid that it will fade and hurt the body.
1. The new clothes are dirtier than you think.
Many people may think that new clothes are sealed in bags and will not get dirty. However, the new clothes are not as clean as you think. Speaking of his own experience, Xiao Jiu went to a garment factory to do summer work and witnessed the formation of clothes.
In the process of making clothes, the parts of clothes are stacked casually, or even directly on the ground. A shaped clothes will pass through the hands of many people. The final product is also directly bagged without cleaning. In addition, in order to prevent moths and molds during the storage of clothing, insect repellents and disinfectants are also irritating to human skin.
Moreover, putting clothes on the shelves starts a new process of bacterial accumulation. The first is dust, which is difficult to avoid. Secondly, the clothes you bought may have been tried on N times. And everyone may carry different bacteria and mites, and even parasites and germs. They may run to your clothes when you try them on, and then run to you.
Dust + bacteria + mites, people with slightly sensitive skin can’t stand it, and skin itching, redness and swelling will occur. People with allergic constitution should not only wash new clothes when they buy them, but also pay more attention when trying them on. They should not let their skin directly contact with chemical fiber products, metal buttons and zippers on clothes, otherwise they are prone to allergic skin diseases.
In short, new clothes that have not been washed may contain pathogenic pathogens. If people with weak resistance come into contact with these pathogens, they are very likely to cause skin, intestinal, respiratory and other diseases.
2. Formaldehyde in new clothes may exceed the standard
The main role of formaldehyde is to prevent wrinkle, corrosion and shrinkage of clothing, and improve the brightness of clothing color. To put it bluntly, it is for better wearing effect. Therefore, it is normal for new clothes to have formaldehyde residues. Even, many clothes have formaldehyde exceeding the standard.
In 2013, the China Consumer Association, as an ordinary consumer, purchased 70 “fast fashion” adult clothes in Beijing and Shanghai markets, and entrusted the consumer goods quality and safety supervision and inspection center of the China Federation of Commerce to conduct a comparative test.
The comparative test items include identification, content of ingredients, formaldehyde content, pH value, color fastness (water resistance, sweat resistance, friction resistance, dry cleaning resistance, washing resistance and light resistance), odor, decomposable and carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes, pilling, tear strength, etc.
From the overall situation, there are 45 items that can all meet the standard, and the main problems of the remaining nonconformities include: the content of fiber components does not match the name and reality, the formaldehyde content and pH value exceed the standard, and the color fastness does not meet the standard.
In 2014, according to the investigation report released by Greenpeace, an international environmental protection organization, formaldehyde in clothing of at least a dozen well-known brands in China exceeded the standard, and some of them exceeded the standard by more than 40%.
clothing prone to formaldehyde exceeding the standard:
Children’s clothing: China Consumer Association once found in the test that the formaldehyde content of 8 samples of 50 brands of children’s knitted underwear sold in the market seriously exceeded the standard.
Non iron clothing: formaldehyde may be used in non iron casual clothes that need to be bleached and dyed, and some non iron clothing have high formaldehyde content.
Jeans: those jeans with different shades of color will use more formaldehyde in the process of bleaching, dyeing and washing.
The pungent smell of new clothes we often smell is usually the smell of formaldehyde. However, it is said that some people like this taste very much. Xiao Jiu was a little surprised after listening to it. Formaldehyde is harmful to human body.
If the manufacturer uses low-cost additives containing formaldehyde, and the formaldehyde exceeds the standard, it will lead to the gradual release of free formaldehyde during the wearing and use of clothing, which will induce diseases through the contact of human respiratory tract, eyes and skin.
Formaldehyde exceeds the standard, and there are two short-term and temporary hazards:
① Irritate the skin and respiratory tract, causing tears, dry cough, sore throat, nausea and other reactions.
② Allergic reactions occur, most of which are very mild pruritus and rashes, and serious ones may need to be admitted to the hospital.
However, fortunately, formaldehyde is a substance that is easy to volatilize and soluble in water, so wash it thoroughly before wearing it. If it has no peculiar smell after drying, the formaldehyde remaining on the clothes should be cleaned. As long as you avoid formaldehyde in time and don’t touch it, your body will return to normal, generally leaving no organic damage.
In order to prevent formaldehyde pollution of clothes, we should pay more attention when buying clothes. Try to focus on light colors, and choose clothes with small patterns, light smell, soft prints and unbleached.
New clothes had better be rinsed thoroughly with water and then dried in the sun. If winter clothes cannot be rinsed or are in the wood-based panel wardrobe, they must be fully dried before wearing. Some non iron shirts need to be unpacked and dried for one or two days.
3. Dyes may also be a “Curse”
Dyes are also a big problem for new clothes. The dyeing and dyestuffs of clothing fabrics have national standards. If they are produced according to national specifications, they are generally non-toxic and harmless to people. Fading is only a matter of color fastness, not necessarily harmful.
However, if unqualified dyes are used, some physically sensitive people may have redness, itching, scaly rashes, especially in areas where friction or sweating occurs, such as the waist, neck, thighs and armpits.
Therefore, I suggest that you should be careful when buying clothes, and try not to buy clothes that are easy to fade (red and black).
To sum up, it is best to wash and wear new clothes of any fabric. In particular, when you buy intimate underwear and shirts, you’d better wash them several times to minimize the residue of harmful substances in the production process.
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