What's that chemical on used clothing?

[Don Chance]

I bought some t-shirt at Chachucuck market. Had to wash them twice to get the smell out.  Surely something cancer armagedom causing?

[scubascuba3]

BO?

[Don Chance]

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

BO?

They spray the entire shipping container with it. I checked online could not find any answer.

[bamboozled]

It could be from the chemical dyes. What color were they? Black is the worst. Did a LOT of color come out in the wash? Now you'll tell me they were white and there goes my argument.

 

....ah well, scratch the whole thing: they were used shirts....my bad.

[brianthainess]

Dry cleaning fluid ? now linked to Alzheimer apparently. but i can't remember. 

[xylophone]

3 hours ago, Don Chance said:

They spray the entire shipping container with it. I checked online could not find any answer.

I'm sure that I read somewhere, that clothes like this are sprayed with formaldehyde (??) and/or a sort of permethrin to kill lice and bugs.

[NextG]

You bought used T-Shirts?

[Lacessit]

On 7/8/2023 at 3:27 PM, Don Chance said:

I bought some t-shirt at Chachucuck market. Had to wash them twice to get the smell out.  Surely something cancer armagedom causing?

If you had to wash them twice to get the smell out, most probably naphthalene, the chemical used in mothballs. Dry cleaning fluid would be eliminated in the first wash.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphthalene_poisoning

[Don Chance]

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

If you had to wash them twice to get the smell out, most probably naphthalene, the chemical used in mothballs. Dry cleaning fluid would be eliminated in the first wash.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naphthalene_poisoning

I don't think it is naptholene because i know what that smells like. This chemical is same one what they used to spray in the airplane cabins before landing.  I think that the clothing is getting sprayed when it arrives in Thailand.

[Lacessit]

22 minutes ago, Don Chance said:

I don't think it is naptholene because i know what that smells like. This chemical is same one what they used to spray in the airplane cabins before landing.  I think that the clothing is getting sprayed when it arrives in Thailand.

If your Thai is good enough, perhaps you can make inquiries of the Thai health authorities as to their treatment of imported secondhand clothing.

Camphor and dichlorobenzene are other candidates, although AFAIK the smell of camphor is very similar to naphthalene.