Individual chemicals are tested in isolation. But in your clothes — and your body — they don't behave that way.
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One chemical below the legal limit is not the same as one hundred chemicals below the legal limit.
This is the core insight behind what scientists call the cocktail theory of chemical exposure. When multiple substances interact in the body — even each one at concentrations considered safe on their own — their combined effect can be far greater than the sum of its parts. In some cases, mixtures produce entirely new toxic outcomes that were never anticipated in the testing of individual compounds.
What we know — and what we don't
We currently have toxicity data for roughly 80 textile fibres. There are approximately 12,000 known PFAS compounds. The gap between those two numbers represents an enormous blind spot. Regulatory frameworks are built on individual substance testing — a model not designed to account for accumulation, interaction, or the long-term effects of chronic low-level exposure.
The chemicals in your clothes
The most common hazardous substance groups found in textiles include PFAS, flame retardants, azo dyes (which can release carcinogenic aromatic amines), heavy metals, phthalates, and antimicrobial agents. Each has its own exposure pathway. Together, they create a chemical environment on the body that science is only beginning to map.
Why this is also a justice issue
Only the chemical manufacturers fully understand the substances they produce. Everyone else — regulators, designers, consumers, workers — operates in reaction. The people most exposed are typically those with the least power: factory workers, residents near industrial sites, and communities in the Global South where used garments are exported and often burned in open landfills.
What needs to change
Classification of chemicals as a coherent framework — internationally agreed upon, regularly revised, and applied across the entire supply chain — is the necessary foundation. The cocktail is already there. It is time the policy caught up.
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