Textiles

Even at the agricultural stage, cotton is regarded as one of the most environmentally damaging crops in the world, with individual crops often receiving multiple treatments of powerful pesticides. Both cotton and other textile industries also use large amounts of chemicals in the processing, dyeing and washing processes. Many are produced in nations where there are fewer controls on effluent, and are high in biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), with high levels of suspended and dissolved solids. In some cases they also contain heavy metals and phenolic compounds.