Antibacterial Clothing: Toxic for Humans and the Environment

Imagine if your workout clothes repelled smell. Great, right? The idea is, but the actual substances used to give clothes antibacterial properties might pose a risk to your health and the environment. Luckily, recent studies prove that natural extracts such as Neem can provide the same antibacterial protection without posing harm to your health.

How Antibacterial Treatments Work

In an attempt to create clothes with a barrier against the bacteria and the odor caused by sweat, some manufacturers have started to treat clothing with “antibacterial” agents that are meant to prevent the build-up of odor-causing bacteria.

Scientists at the Swedish Chemicals Agency analyzed 30 representative items of clothing treated with three common antibacterial treatments: silver, trichlocarban and triclosan. Washing rapidly removed these chemicals in all the clothes. In the case of triclosan and trichlocarban more than half of the original content was washed out after 10 washes. With silver, half of the substance had been washed after just 3 washes.

When these substances wash out, they end up in waterways and eventually reach the ocean, harming soil, food, and wildlife. Silver, for example, doesn’t degrade and has rapidly accumulated in the environment since it became a common fabric treatment. Trichlocarban and triclosan degrade very slowly.

Triclosan, and its related compound trichlorcarban, is a hormone disruptor, that can affect male and female reproductive hormones and possibly fetal development, and is also shown to alter thyroid function. In 2016, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that health and beauty products containing these substances may no longer be marketed to consumers*.

Neem as a Safe Antibacterial

More than 300 different active compounds have been reported from different parts of the neem tree but the most important limonoids are azadirachtin, salannin and nimbin. Neem extracts have the potential to inhibit the growth of bacteria. A study conducted with different natural antibacterial agents on clothing showed that 100% neem oil treated fabrics reduced 65% and 96% of S.aureus and E.coli respectively.

Protect your health and the environment by avoiding clothes that contain antibacterial treatments and replacing them with those treated with natural solutions like neem.

*The FDA does not regulate clothing.