Textile Industry - Public Health and Hazard: A Critical Overview

Editorial

Industrialization and population explosion are the two major factors that will result in the degradation of the environment or environmental resources. Advancement in science and technology lead to industrialization or the extraordinary expansion of global economy and simultaneously, population growth resulted in population explosion. Food, cloth and shelter are the basic needs for human beings. In this context, textile industry is of very important for our society. In accordance with the growth in human population, there is a growth in textile industry. When compared with all other industries, textile industries are essential for all countries and on the contrary, it produces more pollutants to our ecosystem [1]. Cotton, a member of the hibiscus family, is the major raw material for textile industries. When compared with all other crops (cash crops), cultivation of cotton crops requires huge amount of pesticides and fertilizers, which in turn result in air and water pollution. In addition to various complications, research reports reveal that pesticide exposure leads to certain severe neurological diseases including Alzheimer’s disease [2]. Pesticides and their ingredients not only affect human beings but also the terrestrial and aquatic animals.

Ponds and lands, in and around agricultural lands, will be contaminated with the pollutants. Usually, soil contaminants will be taken into aquatic medium through rain [3]. Moreover, people who consume meat and meat products will also be affected by these toxic chemicals. While considering textile and tannery industries, the developed countries have certain limitations but in developing countries, there are no fast and hard rules for the establishment or operation of these industries. Ecologists and policy makers should advice the industrialists to manufacture pesticides with less toxic effect to the environment. In addition, they should also encourage agriculturists about the organic mode of cultivation to avoid pollution to the environment. As per the norms and terms of international agencies (US Environmental Agency and World Health Organization), all industries should be established either in an allocated industrial area or remote areas so that the exposure of pollutants or chemicals to the human beings or domestic animals will be at the minimum level. Many research reports reveal that the levels of exposure of industrial chemicals and pollutants in the developing countries are more than the suggested exposure level of human beings for the pollutants.

Textile industry also consumes a huge amount of water. In developing countries, people who are living around industrial area also face water scarcity. In addition, removal of the liquid effluent has become a major concern in these days. The disposal of the waste water, contaminated with waste products or toxic chemicals to the water bodies or other areas, will result in water or soil pollution. In recent years, it is known that people in third world countries use the industrial waste as drinking water either knowingly or unknowingly [4]. Thus, textile industry, in addition to other industries, is a great threat to our ecosystem. Moreover, industrialization is a major source for global warming. While textile industry produces more pollutants to the environment, there should be a law that the industries should emit minimum quantity of pollutants which should be below the safety level for human beings. Scientists and technologists should invent equipment’s in such a way that industries should not emit pollutants to the environment. There should be a common law for both the developing and developed countries to protect our environment [5,6].

 

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