Are there any personal health benefits to utilizing organic cotton?
The information noted above may already convince some of the overall health benefits to our world and the people who process the cotton, but there are aspects of the chemically treated fabric production process which are perhaps less obvious: Most often, chlorine is used to whiten the fibers after weaving; sodium hydroxide is then used to scour or wash the fabric; then it is dyed or printed, typically with the use of formaldehyde fixing agents; finally, there is often the presence of the resin based urea-formaldehyde which is applied in the finishing process and which is heat bonded to cotton fiber for permanent adhesion to reduce shrinkage. This final product in all of its chemical-laden existence, is shipped directly to mills and to consumers. Ick.
