A danger to human life ….
 

Cotton uses about 25% of the world's insecticide and more than 10% of the pesticides (including insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, defoliants, and growth regulators.) In the United States, 25% of all pesticides used are applied to cotton. It takes about a third of a pound of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to grow enough cotton for a T-shirt. Five of the top nine pesticides used on cotton are cancer-causing chemicals (cyanazine, dicofol, naled, propargite, and trifluralin). All of the top nine cotton pesticides in California are labeled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as Category I or Category II materials, the most toxic classifications. In India, 91% of male cotton farm workers regularly exposed to pesticides eight hours or more per day experience some type of health disorder, including chromosomal aberrations, cell death and cell decay.

Uses 25% of World’s insecticide. Uses 10% of world’s Insecticide It takes 1/3 of a pound of fertilizer for a T-Shirt. Pesticides are carcinogenic (cancer causing).

Conventional cotton production damages the Earth. According to the Organic Trade Association (OTA), the leading business association representing the organic industry, conventional cotton uses approximately 25% of the world's insecticides and more than 10% of the world's pesticides. In fact, in 2000 eighty-four million pounds of pesticides were sprayed on the 14.4 million acres of conventional cotton grown in the U.S. Simply stated, it takes roughly one-third of a pound of chemicals (pesticides and fertilizers) to grow enough cotton for just one t-shirt! These pesticides and insecticides render the soil sterile, completely devoid of beneficial microbes and insects.

Furthermore, the damage from these chemicals extends far beyond the farm, contaminating the soil, ground water, and neighboring communities. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), seven of the top fifteen pesticides used on cotton are considered "possible," "likely," "probable," or "known" human carcinogens.