UC Davis

Toxic textiles: Potential health risks associated with toxic chemicals in clothing: Maria A. Muñoz and Pamela J. Lein from the University of California, Davis, focus on the potential health risks associated with toxic chemicals in clothing. In 2011, approximately 800 of 3,000 Alaska Airlines attendants began reporting various symptoms, including skin rashes, itchy eyes, and coughing. These complaints coincided with the introduction of new uniforms earlier that year and would continue until February 2014, when the clothing was recalled. Laboratory analyses of the attendants’ uniforms detected various toxic chemicals, including metals (lead, chromium, and cobalt) and known skin irritants, such as toluene, tributyl phosphate, and dimethyl fumarate, in the cloth used to make the uniforms.