Wooden
Crates Heat Treated Not Fumigated
Bad Shipping News
Here’s another one of these
nasty and unhealthy little secrets that surround global clothing
manufacturing. Natural fibers can be grown organically and garments
can then be manufactured according to emerging organic guidelines
but when the garments are shipped internationally from the garment
manufacturer to a distributor or retailer, the garments might
become tainted during shipping from pesticides intended to prevent
insects, rodents, fungi, nematodes, and various disease causing
organisms from accidentally being imported in the shipping materials
along with that beautiful organic cotton shirt or merino wool
jacket. The most likely culprit in the lineup of usual suspects
is Methyl Bromide – aka MeBr, MB, bromomethane, Brom-o-Gask
Embafume, Haltox and Zytox.
By the early 1990’s, methyl
bromide was one of the top five most widely used pesticides in
the world and was used by farmers prior to planting to destroy
all fungus, nematodes, micro-organisms, insects, and weeds in
the soil. The theory was that this chemically scorched earth policy
would then provide a sterile medium into which farmers could plop
seeds free from any “foreign” intruders. Of course,
the farmers must liberally add synthetic fertilizers so that the
seeds would have some nutrition for the tomatoes, strawberries
and bell peppers to grow. After these nutrition-less, cardboard
veggies were harvested, they would then be gassed with methyl
bromide again during packaging for shipping to protect them from
pesky insects. Imported foods were routinely gassed with methyl
bromides to protect American soil from being contaminated by foreign
insects. Methyl bromides were also generously used to fumigate
homes and buildings to eradicate termites, insects and rodent
infestations.
Methyl bromide is also very toxic
to humans and animals. At room temperatures in low concentrations,
it is a colorless, odorless gas. At high concentrations, greater
than 1,000 ppm, it has a musty or fruity odor. Because Methyl
bromide is highly toxic and lacks adequate physiological warning
properties, up to 2% chloropicrin is generally added to methyl
bromide gas as a warning agent. Chloropicrin is a lacrimator that
irritates the eyes and causes tearing.
Common initial symptoms from inhaling
smaller amounts of methyl bromide include weakness, despondency,
headache, mental confusion, nausea, vomiting, double vision, tremors,
lack of co-ordination and slurred speech. Repeated mild exposures
accumulate and cause skin rashes.
According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, prolonged
and concentrated exposure to methyl bromide can cause injury to
the brain and nerves, lungs, throat, kidneys and liver. It can
be inhaled or absorbed through the skin and contributes to systemic
toxicity and conditions such as Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.
Acute exposure can cause severe chemical burns of the skin, eyes
and airways, and delayed chemical pneumonia which produces water
in the lungs. Overexposure can be fatal and numerous deaths have
occurred among farm pesticide appliers, fumigators applying methyl
bromides, and building occupants who prematurely reentered fumigated
building.
A highly effective and toxic fumigant
for controlling a wide variety of pests, methyl bromide was also
identified as a contributor to the depletion of the stratospheric
ozone layer and classified as a Class I ozone-depleting substance.
By 1991, scientific researchers determined that methyl bromide
was destroying the ozone layer at a rate fifty times faster than
CFC’s (ChloroFluoroCarbons manufactured under the trade
name Freon). The United Nations, through the Montreal Protocol,
has signatures from more than 160 countries banning methyl bromide
by the year 2015. The Clean Air Act in the U.S. initiated a phase
out period beginning in 1999. The amount of methyl bromides produced
and imported in the U.S. was incrementally reduced until the phase-out
was supposed to be complete on January 1, 2005. An allowable (but
not defensible) exception to the ban on methyl bromides is for
their use in fumigating international shipping materials made
from wood.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protect
Agency (CBP) requires that all wood packing materials such as
pallets, crates and boxes used for shipments being imported into
the United States be heat treated to a minimum wood core temperature
of 56 degrees Celsius (132.8 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes
or be fumigated with methyl bromide. Of course, fumigating with
nasty methyl bromide is the preferred method and far easier than
putting wood crates and pallets in a huge oven to be heated to
133 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Wood is used to help transport
70 percent of cargo shipped around the world so this requirement
has significant impact on global shipping.
Similar requirements are being enforced
by many governments around the world that contend that the requirements
are vital to the welfare of the world’s forests. The United
States adopted quarantine measures to stop the spread of the Asian
long-horned beetles in wood packing material from China. China,
in return, has requirements for wood packing material from the
U.S. that might harbor the pinewood nematode. The European Union
adopted regulations to control the spread of the nematode from
both the U.S. and China. Any shipments arriving in the United
States with wood packing that has not been properly treated by
heat or fumigation is subject to being immediately returned to
its country of origin.
Most organic clothing manufacturers
and distributors who are importing clothing produced from natural
fibers grown to organic agriculture standards and regulations
and manufactured according to organic textile guidelines and principles
will individually wrap garments in plastic and store the plastic
wrapped garments in cardboard boxes before placing them on wooden
pallets for shipping to the U.S. If the shippers uses wooden pallets
recently fumigated with methyl bromide, the pallets will still
be off-gassing the methyl bromide which easily permeates plastic
wrapping and even protective materials such as rubber and leather.
The result will be that the garments placed nearest the wooden
pallets can be contaminated by the off-gassing methyl bromide.
This might help explain why some chemically sensitive people will
find some imported organic garments intolerable and other similar
garments in the same shipment to be comfortable and wearable.
Also, methyl bromide is 3.4 times
heavier than air so if there is any free, off-gassed methyl bromide
floating around the hull of a container ship or airplane cargo
hold, it will collect and concentrate at the bottom of the cargo
space where it more likely to contaminate the cargo lower in the
shipment. Methyl bromide has also been used to fumigate the cargo
holds in ships and aircraft, especially those used to transport
fruits and vegetables, to eradicate rodents and other pests. For
shipments from developing countries where methyl bromide is still
not completely phased out and banned, the use might still continue
to varying degrees. Even in the U.S., methyl bromide is not phased
out as the Bush Administration has requested numerous exemptions
because they claim there are not adequate alternatives. And so
the tempo of the global warming dance picks up.
What is the consumer who wants pure
and healthy clothing to do? Here are some options:
Buy organic clothing made in the
U.S. Shipments within country are not subject to fumigation. Even
clothing purchased from U.S. Internet companies and shipped to
other countries via the mail systems is safe from warrantless
fumigations.
Ask your organic clothing retailer if their overseas organic clothing
is individually wrapped in protective plastic bags. Even though
methyl bromide can pass through plastics, the bag will provide
some deterrent and will also protect from other fumes and pollutants
emanating from ships, planes and trucks.
Take a chance. Our experience has been that only about one in
every 30 organic garments manufactured overseas and shipped to
the U.S. is subjected to levels of chemicals that can be noticed
by a chemically sensitive person and the odds are slowly improving.
A growing number of importers are shipping on heat treated wooden
pallets rather than fumigated wooden pallets and the cost of alternative
pallets made from materials which are pest-free is declining thus
making them more cost-effective alternatives.
If you do receive a garment that has gained some bad air, it is
possible to greatly reduce or eliminate the problem. The good
news is that gases such as methyl bromide do not chemically bond
with clothing fibers. They just become trapped in air spaces and
washing and airing the clothing will remove the pollutants. Clothing
should always be laundered after purchasing and before wearing.
Imagine the handling and messy environments during manufacturing,
shipping, and storage that your new shirt or skirt has endured
before arriving in your home.
If you are machine or hand washing
your new organic clothes, allow the washing machine or sink to
fill with cool water, add your favorite eco-laundry detergent,
and allow your new garments to soak for an hour or two before
completing the wash cycle. Dry the garment appropriately and then
allow the garment to air out for a few hours before wearing or
storing in your closet.
People must demand that their governments
stop allowing these ecologically disastrous practices. It really
is the responsibility of everyone.
Never stop demanding a healthy world.
Michael
