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Esmeralda Sanchez
February 16, 2014

Are Mexicos rivers being exposed?
Water resources in Mexico are especially vulnerable. Mexico is one of the
largest producer of denim in the world, and a major supplier to the US market. It is,
therefore, an important country for textile manufacturing. As a developing country that is
particularly susceptible to the effects of climate change, with many inequalities and
inadequate regulations and enforcement, water resources in Mexico are especially
vulnerable. Textile contamination is a world of dark shadows full of surprises that affect
the humanity and natural environment, which is our main resource water. An industry
that challenges civilians to live day by day with lies and promises that never comes.
Rivers are being exposed raises questions about the exploitation of its rivers.
Populations wonder why or what then? Textiles industries are reasonings too careless
about their actions. Also these people not only ignore such a serious matter, but also
continue textile contamination without actions. A band of self-proclaimed industry went
from paying low wages, tax exemptions, and flexible labor laws while in return providing
jobs, causing significant environmental damages not knowing enough about it to predict
its reliability. According to Greenpeace More than 70% of freshwater resources in
Mexico are affected as a result of pollution from all sources, with 31% described as
contaminated or grossly contaminated, which reduces the amount available for providing
clean water. Over the last 55 years, water availability per inhabitant has reduced
dramatically, from 11,500 m3 in 1955 to 4,263m3 in 2010, for a number of reasons,
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including water pollution.56 about 84% of Mexicans are extremely concerned about
water pollution.
Many of the chemicals in rivers are used during textile manufacturing processes,
or are created as a result of the breakdown of chemicals used in textile processing.
Wastewater is one of the largest sources of waste produced by the textile and apparel
goods require many steps, wastewater is produced in manufacturing process. High
volumes of wastewater are produced in manufacturing operations such as desizing,
dyeing, rinsing, printing, bleaching, finishing, and cleaning. Increasing production and
not thinking of the longer term effects, getting rid of natural habitants; is all greed
ignorance, selfishness and inability to look at the bigger picture of how their earning
money. A diverse range of chemicals was identified in the wastewater samples, many
with known hazardous properties. Some are toxic to aquatic life, while others are
persistent and will therefore remain in the environment long after their release. The
Lavamex facility was the most notable in terms of hazardous chemicals identified in
wastewater samples. TMDD is persistent in the aquatic environment and moderately
toxic to aquatic life. Another hazardous chemicals found at the Kaltex facility was
hexa(methoxymethyl)melamine (HMMM) used to produce resins which is moderately
toxic to aquatic life(Greenpeace).
There are specific industry factors that partly explain the response towards the
environment. Samples were gathered form the two main wastewater discharge of the
lavamex facility in Aguascalientes and the Kaltex facility in San Juan del Ro, Queretaro,
in May 2012, with two samples collected from each facility on consecutive days. The
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samples were intended to provide a snapshot of the type of hazardous chemicals present
in these industrial wastewaters, which typically contain a variety of substances. The
Lavamex facility and the Kaltex facility in San Juan del Ro in particular are considered
to be among the biggest facilities carrying out wet processing in Mexico, including denim
fabric-related manufacturing(Greenpeace.).
Wastewater receives the most attention from politicians and consumers due to
their hazardous nature. Yet, there is another set of nontoxic, residual waste that results
from the production of textiles and apparels. A large amount of fabric waste and other
scraps are left over at the end of production. Most industry companies do not reuse or
recycle fabric scraps that able to be reused. The Mexican government only regulates 17
parameters regarding water discharges into rivers but recently Greenpeace discovered an
official report admitting that Santiago River contains 1090 chemical substance in the
river, including some hazardous substance, which is used by the industries. The
government needs to become more involved in assisting individual facilities and in
regulations set forth for the industry.
In order to make significant changes in the wastes of water by textile and apparel
manufacturing facilities, several preventative measures must be taken. To begin with,
companies should begin to set improved regulations for the things used manufacturing.
Reusable containers should be required and the use of harmful substances should be
limited. Individuals should be employed by company and industry executives to research
and develop new ways of producing less harmful chemicals or alternative treatments.
Many companies are coming up with better technology ideas so why not as well come up
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with something that will not harm our environment. Ensuring optimal environment for
the facility can make simple improvements.
Reference;
Cotton, T. (2012, December). Toxic Threads: Under Wraps Exposing the textile industrys
role in polluting Mexicos rivers. Greenpeace International, 32. Retrieved from
http://www.greenpeace.org/austria/Global/austria/dokumente/Reports/umweltgifte_detox
_toxicthreads2012.pdf
Jenkins, R. (2000). Industry and Environment in Latin America. 272. Retrieved from
http://books.google.com.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yslKraqm9F4C&oi=fn
d&pg=PA190&dq=Contamination+of+Water+Supply+by+Textile+Industry+in+Mexico
+(specifically+the+Aguascalientes+and+Queretaro+industrial+regions)&ots=2v7hb5Ppl
O&sig=HDy1fsxdQEQIYRA3mYsa2SRlQYI#v=onepage&q&f=fals














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Bibliography:
http://en.maquilasolidarity.org/sites/maquilasolidarity.org/files/MSN-Crisis_and-
Garment_Sector_in_Mexico-2009-10.pdf