Garment Factories Are Heating Up. Here’s How Workers Can Stay Cool

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By Hannah Richter, Eos/AGU. 

Excerpt: More than 75 million people work in the garment industry, many of them in the world’s hottest countries. As climate change warms the air and oceans, so too does it seep into the stuffy chambers of garment factories, where conditions are highly uncomfortable if not downright unsafe. In research recently published in The Lancet, scientists tested different interventions for protecting workers from rising temperatures in Bangladesh, a nation where 80% of its export revenue comes from the garment industry. The 4 million Bangladeshi people, mostly women, who sew ready-made garments often work 12-hour shifts 6 days a week in humid and poorly ventilated buildings. Prolonged heat stress can put strain on their cardiovascular systems and increase their risk of heat stroke, especially because many workers have existing kidney and cardiovascular issues.... 

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