The Toxic Truth About Cotton

You may not realize this but cotton is the most toxic crop in the world! California is the only state where farmers are required to provide pesticide use reports.

A review of this use showed that of the fifteen chemicals that these cotton farmers typically use, seven were probable cancer-causing pesticides, eight caused tumors and five caused mutations.

Here are some more scary facts about America’s favorite fabric

• Fifty-five million pounds of pesticides were sprayed on the 12.8 million acres of conventional cotton grown in the U.S. in 2003 (4.3 pounds/ acre).

• It is estimated that less than 10% of the chemicals applied to cotton are accomplishing their tasks, the rest are absorbed into the plant, air, soil, water and eventually, our bodies.

• Although conventional cotton farmers use only 3% of the world’s farmland, they use more than 10% of the pesticides worldwide ($2.6 billion worth) and about 25% of the world’s insecticides.

• It takes roughly one-third of a pound of chemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) to grow enough cotton for just one T-shirt.

“Super-Insects" and Ever Increasing Pesticides

They say that time heals but, in this case, the opposite is true. The statistics above will only increase with time because as the amount of pesticides used increases, so do the insects’ resistance levels. A vicious cycle ensues and more and more pesticides are needed to be effective.

The ever-increasing use of toxic insecticides and other toxic chemicals in cotton has caused serious health and environmental impacts including fields that have been rendered barren, farmer and farm worker poisonings, water contamination and the death of countless birds and fish.

Conventional Cotton Puts Pesticides into Your Baby’s Body

The overuse of pesticides and other chemicals also directly affects you and your family. These various hazardous chemicals, including organophosphates which were originally developed as toxic nerve agents during World War II, remain in the conventional cotton clothing, sheets and mattresses you buy and are absorbed through the pores in your skin into your respiratory system. So are the toxic dyes and formaldehyde finish used on the cotton after it has been turned into fabric.

Think of how this affects your baby’s developing organs.

Protect Yourself by Going Organic

The good news is that it is easy to protect yourself – by going organic! Organic farming protects the health of people and the planet by reducing the overall exposure to toxic chemicals from synthetic pesticides that can end up in the ground, air, water and food supply, and that are associated with health consequences, from asthma to cancer.

Organic Farming Methods

Organic farmers have learned how to give us the fabric we love without the chemicals we don’t. A lot has been learned by looking to the methods of our ancestors who relied on nature to regulate soil fertility, insects, weeds and soil microbiology.

Organic farmers have combined the methods of these ancestors, such as crop rotation, with new, innovative methods, including precision tillage, to grow the purest, safest and highest quality cotton yet.

Only the Purest Organic Cotton at NaturalEco Organics

All of the cotton products at NaturalEco Organics come from organic cotton fields and are of the best quality and softest composition.

How many pesticides and insecticides does it take to grow our cotton? Zero.

The organic cotton in our products is not only 100% chemical-free and hypo-allergenic, but it is the softest cotton there is and so much safer for your baby than conventional cotton.

Protect your baby by choosing organic cotton.