The fashion industry is widely recognized for its environmental challenges, but the health impacts related to textile toxicity remain significantly underexplored. Beyond the well-known issues of pollution and resource depletion, modern clothing often harbors a hidden threat: hazardous chemicals embedded within fabrics. These include dyes containing heavy metals, antimicrobial agents that foster bacterial resistance, and synthetic fibers that release microplastics. Unlike environmental discussions, the dialogue around the direct and long-term health effects of these substances is still limited. This entry addresses critical yet often-overlooked concerns, such as how chemicals in textiles contribute to chronic skin conditions, hormonal disruptions, and even carcinogenic risks. It also examines the proliferation of bacteria in synthetic garments, leading to dermatological infections and rapid fabric degradation. Furthermore, the globalized nature of production masks the contamination risks transferred from producer to consumer countries. Through an interdisciplinary approach, this entry highlights the urgent need for integrating scientific innovation, stringent regulation, and consumer awareness to mitigate health hazards in fashion. It calls for the adoption of safer textile technologies, sustainable materials, and transparent production practices, paving the way for a fashion future that prioritizes human health as much as environmental sustainability.

Glomerulopathy with fibronectin deposits is an autosomal dominant disease associated with proteinuria, hematuria, hypertension and renal function decline. Forty percent of the cases are caused by mutations in FN1, the gene that encodes fibronectin. This report describes two cases of Glomerulopathy with fibronectin deposits, involving a 47-year-old father and a 14-year-old son. The renal biopsies showed glomeruli with endocapillary hypercellularity and large amounts of mesangial and subendothelial eosinophilic deposits. Immunohistochemistry for fibronectin was markedly positive. Whole exome sequencing identified a novel FN1 mutation that leads to an amino-acid deletion in both patients (Ile1988del), a variant that required primary amino-acid sequence analysis for assessment of pathogenicity. Our primary sequence analyses revealed that Ile1988 is very highly conserved among relative sequences and is positioned in a C-terminal FN3 domain containing heparin- and fibulin-1-binding sites. This mutation was predicted as deleterious and molecular mechanics simulations support that it can change the tertiary structure and affect the complex folding and its molecular functionality. The current report not only documents the occurrence of two GFND cases in an affected family and deeply characterizes its anatomopathological features but also identifies a novel pathogenic mutation in FN1, analyzes its structural and functional implications, and supports its pathogenicity.

The fashion industry is widely recognized for its environmental challenges, but the health impacts related to textile toxicity remain significantly underexplored. Beyond the well-known issues of pollution and resource depletion, modern clothing often harbors a hidden threat: hazardous chemicals embedded within fabrics. These include dyes containing heavy metals, antimicrobial agents that foster bacterial resistance, and synthetic fibers that release microplastics. Unlike environmental discussions, the dialogue around the direct and long-term health effects of these substances is still limited. This review addresses critical yet often overlooked concerns, such as how chemicals in textiles contribute to chronic skin conditions, hormonal disruptions, and even carcinogenic risks. It also examines the proliferation of bacteria in synthetic garments, leading to dermatological infections and rapid fabric degradation. Furthermore, the globalized nature of production masks the contamination risks transferred from producer to consumer countries. Through an interdisciplinary approach, this paper highlights the urgent need for integrating scientific innovation, stringent regulation, and consumer awareness to mitigate health hazards in fashion. It calls for the adoption of safer textile technologies, sustainable materials, and transparent production practices, paving the way for a fashion future that prioritizes human health as much as environmental sustainability.

The fashion industry is a recognized source of water and soil pollution, yet its contribution to air quality across the garment lifecycle has received comparatively less attention. Building on prior work linking fast fashion to chemical exposure in textiles to the industry’s sustainability challenges, this review traces airborne exposures and respiratory health from production to disposal. In manufacturing, decades of epidemiolocal evidence document occupational respiratory disease, including byssinosis and lung function decline, driven by cotton dust, volatile organic compounds, and finishing agents, with the burden concentrated in low- and middle-income countries where production has relocated and enforcement is limited. At the disposal end, the open burning of discarded garments releases particulate matter, dioxins, furans, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, with an estimated 10 to 20 million metric tons of textile waste burned annually across 137 countries, though community-level health outcomes remain largely unquantified. As a result of fast fashion, accelerating production amplifies exposures at both ends. The review maps the available evidence, identifies gaps, most notably the absence of community respiratory data at disposal sites, and examines regulatory frameworks and interventions with demonstrated potential to reduce exposure. Throughout, those most exposed are largely not those wearing the garments.