LOOK WHERE YOUR TOWELS HAVE BEEN

Cross Contamination of Toxic Metals

Shop towels lead a rough life. They go back and forth from the laundry to a variety of industries, where they pick up oil, grease, solvents, lead and other heavy metals. See how this happens.

After laundering, towels are randomly sent out to other customers - a foundry, a chemical plant, a metal manufacturer - picking up more contaminants each time.

Some of these contaminants don't come out during laundering. But the ones that do go into the wash water, where they can be re-deposited on "clean" towels.

The cycle continues until towels degrade and are sent to a landfill.