Leather has been a staple for fall fashion for the last few
years. Fashion designers have incorporated leather
Leather in fashion is also popular in forms of boots and
jackets. The trend of leather boots started
in Fall 2001 and since has been an occurring trend for the last 13 years. Despite the popularity of leather in the fashion industry, many people do not realize how
unethical animals are treated, how much damage leather production does to the environment,
and how leather products can harm human health.
Wondering how we
actually get leather?
Leather can come from several animals such as cows, pigs, and
kangaroos. Cows used for leather go through extremely painful
procedures like branding, castration, and dehorning all without pain killers.
Some slaughterhouses even skin the cows while they are still alive. Pigs are
treated even more poorly; pigs spend their lives in tight/cramped warehouses
without sunlight. Pigs have their testicles cut out of their scrotum,
tails cut off, teeth clipped in half, and their ears mutilated (Peta). Many of
the pigs used for leather are dumped alive in boiling hot water to make hair removal easier. Millions of kangaroos are killed a year
for their skin. Kangaroos are treated in such horrific ways; they are killed by
being decapitated or by being shot in the head. If the kangaroo has a joey then
the joey is stomped to death and left for dead.
Animal skin is turned into leather by using dangerous
substances/chemicals such as formaldehyde, tar, and several types of oils and
dyes that are cyanide based. Most of the leather today is chrome tanned which
means chemicals such as chromium sulfate are used to keep the leather more
durable and allows for diversed leather colors. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency considers chromium hazardous to the environment and to the health
of people and wildlife. Each year leather tanning generates around 800,000 tons
of chromium waste a year, which ends up in a landfill (Peta).
The Regis Tanning
Company was located in New Hampshire from the 1950's to the 1970's and has been
closed since then. Despite the closing of the facility in 1972, in 2013 the
groundwater supply in that area still had a presence of chromium, lead, and
zinc. The Lamprey River located near the old leather tanning facility is polluted
by cyanide and chromium. 
Chromium occurs naturally in foods such as vegetable and
fruits and has several different levels, level VI being the most hazardous to
human health. Wearing leather that has been tanned with chromium can cause a
skin rash or nose bleeds from breathing in the chemical. More serious health
problems include ulcers, respiratory problems, kidney/liver failure, lung
cancer, and even death.
Leather production harms the health of humans in other ways
as well. Workers who work in tanneries are exposed to arsenic which is associated
with lung cancer. The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found
that residents living near tanneries were five times more likely to develop
leukaemia and other cancers.
Leather production in first-world countries is being
discontinued and is being
moved to third world or developing counties such as India and Bangladesh. In Bangladesh,
almost 100% of leather production comes from the slums and waste isn't properly
disposed of. Rivers near the site of the tannery are highly contaminated and
local residents and workers suffer everyday due to their exposure to highly toxic
chemicals.
Next time you purchase something leather just think about
all of the harm you are causing the world.
Ethical Questions:
Are we as consumers liable for the deaths and disease that
occur due to the production of leather?
Are consumers unethical for buying leather in knowing the
harm it does to humans and animal?
Is there a such thing as "ethical animal killing"?
Is there a such thing as "ethical animal killing"?
Sources:
http://www.examiner.com/article/fall-trend-to-try-leather
http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/cr.htm
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