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Your Pets Deserve the Best
Your pets are members of your family and sources of unconditional love. They depend on you for their care, and you take special care of them - providing them a warm, comfortable and safe place to live, nutritious food and the best medical care available. You also want to provide them with fashionable, well-made clothing that's fun to wear, but also safe for them.
At PinUp Pets, we are concerned by the carcinogens that are present in most fabrics used in apparel. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), harmful chemicals including formaldehyde, are used in dyes to increase colorfastness, and in fabrics to make them permanent press, easy care, fireproof, and mothproof. Formaldehyde is classified as a human carcinogen by the EPA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (part of the World Health Organization). In addition, the use of these harmful chemicals wreaks havoc on the environment.
Safe Non-Toxic Garments
At PinUp Pets, we've made an effort to insure that we are making garments out of the safest, most non-toxic materials available. In the United States, there are few standards for fabric manufacturing unlike in Europe, where standards are far more common. We have found that the most stringent European fabric standard is a German standard called Oeko-Tex 100, which insures that fabrics are free of concentrations of harmful substances which could be detrimental to the health of you, your pet, and the environment.
At PinUp Pets, we have used a number of existing fabrics which are Oeko-Tex certified. Many of our fabrics have been designed and created by us, using Oeko-Tex certified dyes. We have only used non-Oeko-Tex fabrics to achieve a specific performance goal - such as waterproofing. We hope to find Oeko-Tex waterproof alternatives in the near future.
Oeko-Tex 100 puts stringent limits on pesticide content in fibers. Therefore, pesticides will not come into contact with your pet's skin. You wouldn't feed your pet known carcinogens, so you should feel comfortable knowing that the clothes you dress them in are also free of carcinogens. We've worked hard to provide your pet with fashionable, fun and most of all, safe clothing she or he can wear comfortably and you can feel great about. You will also be doing your part to help the environment!
Environmental Awareness
The elimination of harmful chemicals in the dyeing process is a big step toward decreasing pollution of the environment, especially water – where most of these dyes and finishes end up. In addition to the use of non-toxic dyes, in some garments we have used organically grown cotton to eliminate chemical pesticides from polluting the environment.
How Toxins Affect Our Pets
Richard Pitcairn is a well-respected holistic vet. His book, Natural Health for Dogs and Cats, is used by many as a holistic health guide for their pets. In it, he describes how pets get run down from an accumulation of toxins in the body. Toxins affect pets even more so than humans because they live in close contact with the ground and have much contact with dust (often ingesting it). Many toxins, such as heavy metals, settle to the ground and cling to dust. Rugs are known to have excessive levels of toxins. Pet fur attracts dirt and dust, and they often lick it off themselves.
Lead poisoning has been a known cause of seizures for small, urban dogs. The National Cancer Institute has announced that dogs whose owners use 2,4d - a common weed killer - had twice the rate of lymphoma. Even if you do not use pesticides and weed killers on your own lawn, your pet can be exposed by the drifting of the pesticides from neighbors and parks nearby.
The Toxins We Live With
In order to make our lives more convenient, a number of chemicals are being used in almost everything that we consume and come into contact with. Flame retardants such as PBDE's (Polybrominated diphenyl ethers) are used in mattresses, draperies, pillows, carpets, and electrical appliances. Phthalates are used in plastic containers and wrap, wallpaper, shampoo, and deodorant. Pesticides are used on all agricultural crops and almost everywhere (indoors and outdoors) to control insects, fungus, and weeds.
In the United States, the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act says that the EPA can require testing of chemicals that may pose an environmental or human health hazard and can ban the manufacture and import of those chemicals that pose an unreasonable risk. But the EPA requires testing only if evidence of potential harm exists, and the responsibility of determining if harm exists is left to those who manufacture and process the chemical substances. The EPA approves 90 percent of chemicals without restriction. Only a quarter of the 82,000 chemicals in use in the U.S. have been tested for toxicity. Chemicals are released first, and damaging health effects are determined later. (National Geographic, The Chemicals Within Us, October, 2006). Last year, the European Union approved REACH (Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals) - which will require companies to prove that chemicals used are safe or that the benefits outweigh the risks. It will encourage companies to find safer alternatives. The U.S. government opposes the bill.
A National Geographic article has shown that toxins are building in our bodies (The Chemicals Within Us, October 2006). A reporter for National Geographic - David Ewing Duncan - had himself tested for a variety of toxins. He is an average guy, with no extreme risk for exposure to chemicals. He had a very high concentration of PBDE (flame retardants) in his body. These are found in every home, and he does travel frequently on planes - which are known to have a high concentration of PBDE in their fabrics and plastics. In 2004, Europe banned the most toxic flame retardants, and California is scheduled to do so by 2008. Mr. Duncan also had high levels of phthalates which are contained in shampoos, plastic water bottles, and plastic food wrap. Heat and wear release the phthalate molecules. Duncan also had high levels of pesticides in his body - some that have been banned for years.
A few illnesses have been rising mysteriously - such as autism, a type of leukemia, childhood brain cancer - and allergies. Some experts suggest a link to the man-made chemicals that we live with today. (National Geographic, The Chemicals Within Us, October 2006)
Additionally, the Oeko-Tex standard requires that finished garments have a neutral pH level. A pH level drastically different from the skin (highly acidic or alkaline) could cause an adverse reaction. Both dog and human skin have pH levels in the neutral to slightly acidic range.
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