Poison in Their Pants

Millions of British budget shoppers are wearing pesticide-coated underwear, a British fair-trade label claimed Tuesday.

One in 50 pairs of cotton underwear (“pants,” in British English) from India should carry a warning about endosulfan, a pesticide illegal in 62 countries including the U.K., says British label Pants to Poverty.

According to Sky News, the label found up to seven million pairs imported from India and sold in British budget stores contained traces of the cotton-plant pesticide. The chemical will wash off and is no danger to wearers, but the cotton harvesters in direct contact with it can suffer birth defects, miscarriages, sterility and cancer.

British celebrities and Bollywood stars are urging people to mail their worst pair of underwear to German drugs company Bayer in protest of its selling of the pesticide to the Third World.

“The proof against endosulfan is comprehensive,” Dr. Mohan Kumar, the campaign’s doctor, told Sky News. “We can finally prove that replacing [endosulfan] not only dramatically improves people’s health, but also enables farmers to earn more money and support their communities.”

Kumar added: “The Indian government must stop producing and exporting this dangerous pesticide. It can still make a profit, but this time also for our people and our environment.”

Photo courtesy of "Photographers Choice" and Fotosearch.com.