Attitude, Knowledge and Behavior of Romanian Consumers Regarding the Impact of Textile Industry on Human Health and the Environment

The textile industry is not only one of the largest industries in the world, but also the most polluting one. This paper deals with the non-sustainable nature of this industry and the health care problems caused by the toxic chemicals used to manufacture clothes and provides an analysis of the textiles safety and its impact on both the consumers’ health and the environmental equilibrium. Given that all countries (more or less) are involved in the textile industry, this field has to explore ways of becoming sustainable. Having as starting point recent surveys, we developed our own research through questionnaire, which has raised questions not only regarding the environmental impact of textiles industry, but first of all regarding the hidden risks of wearing clothes manufactured by using hazardous chemicals. The purpose of the survey was to get an understanding of the Romanian consumers’ attitude, behavior and knowledge regarding the textiles safety and the impact of the fashion industry on the environment. We found out that Romanian consumers have less knowledge about the health impact of potential toxins when simply wearing a piece of clothing. More than 75% of the respondents are not interested or not well informed regarding the non-sustainable character of the clothing industry. For most Romanian consumers, labeling, as well as the environmental and health impact, do not change their behavior. An important result of the survey is that the environmental impact of the textiles industry is less recognized by Romanian consumers, which translates into a low environmental consciousness.