Fashion Trends that Caused More Harm Than Steez to People's Health

Fashion trends can be funny with a lot of people do a lot of things in the name of fashion. While I will like to assume that people are doing it healthy which I cannot ascertain but I can tell that the majority of fashion outfit are uncomfortable. Back to the health aspect of it, I have seen people use a lot of things and I begin to wonder if they put their health first before the event but while we cannot say for now because there haven't been lots of cases about their decisions but we can go back in history looking at how it either burned, Poisoned, or Killed them.

Going back to the 1700s in Europe where people wore Green as the color of style. The color would be either Scheele's Green, or Emerald green. In 1775 Carl Wilhelm Scheele developed a yellow-green pigment that was more brighter and lasted longer than other types of green, and the pigment was Copper Arsenate which is what is known as Schesle's Green. With today's knowledge, you wold know that it is toxic since it is made with arsenic but it wasn't like they stopped at copper arsenate. Scientists were on the race of who would create the brightest green and this led to the creation of Copper Acetoarsenite also known Emerald Green.

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The green was cool in artifacts and other paintings but it became a big issue when people started wear them on. When they sweat, the toxin went through to their skin, causing skin burn, open sores as more of the toxin was absorbed into their skins. Even those who didn't wear the clothing but had the paintings around the house also suffered when they inhaled a high amount of the toxin. Arsenic poisoning led to vomiting, ulcer and nerve damage, and it can even lead to death.

Still on clothing, did you know that Asbestos was used as a protective clothing before? Asbestos was used to create lightweight fibers which could be woven into fabrics which were flame retardant. So as you would expect, fire fighters those days would wear uniforms that included asbestos in them because they were flame retardant. While this was serving its purpose, if asbestos finds its way into the body, it can be dangerous. Too many asbestos fiber built in the lungs can lead to irritation, scaring, and inflammation of the lungs. With this, people will find it hard to breath, which would lead to the inability to absorb oxygen. We now know today that it is a carcinogen as people who are exposed to it have a high tendency of developing Mesothelioma, a lung cancer.

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Okay, so I do not know how well you read or see movies, but there is a high chance you have come across the phrase "Mad as a hatter". This phrase was used in the mid 1800s to describe industrial hat-makers that were poisoned by mercury when making hats. In the time, hats were feltted and to make felt, hatter used a process known as carroting where the pelt is washed in an orange solution of Mercury Nitrate so as the help remove the for from the skin. While doing this, they began to suffer from mercurial disease known as mad hatter disease which led to devastating emotional state, difficulty walking, difficulty speaking, and tremors.

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If you are familiar with Teddies, i doubt you would know about Celluloid being used for such before. It was the plastic of preference at the time as it was cheap, strong, light, and could be easily molded but all this came with a downside and this was as a result of its making which was from Cellulose Nitrate and this result is very flammable that it got the name guncotton. People told stories of how their celluloid combs would lit fire right on their head because of the heat from a nearby appliance, or how their gadgets exploded. People even narrated how their houses and stores were gone because their appliances were made of celluloid and were kept close to hot places.

Today, we are not see much of those news but we still need to be careful with trends especially when they are still new and researches are still ongoing on them. We go with trends and a lot of us do not understand the science behind the trend but sine we want to enjoy fashion, we get ourselves into a lot of trouble. I just enjoy my simple lifestyle with no complications.

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Reference

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^{https://hyperallergic.com/133571/fatal-victorian-fashion
https://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/0529.pdf
https://thepragmaticcostumer.wordpress.com/2014/
https://macleans.ca/culture/arts/deadly-victorian-fashions/
http://connecticuthistory.org/ending-the-danbury-shakes-a-story-of-workers-rights-and-corporate-responsibility/
https://homework.study.com/explanation/what-is-celluloid.html
https://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/indiv/overview/emerald.html
https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Mad+Hatter+syndrome
https://www.accordionists.info/threads/celluloid-problem.11812/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tox.10116}