:: wool

Key environmental impacts of producing wool include:

• Pesticides used on sheep which cause harm to human health and water courses both on the farm and in subsequent downstream processing. Traditionally sheep have been dipped to control parasite infection.

• The two pesticides most commonly used for dipping are organophosphates and pyrethoids. Exposure to the former is linked to severe nerve damage in humans (notably in the case of sheep dip in farmers). This has led to an increased use of the latter which has given rise to a significant growth in incidences of water pollution as pyrethoids are one thousand times more toxic to aquatic life than organophosphates.

• Effluents arising from wool scouring – which are significant in terms of their pollution potential to both water and land (in the form of wool grease sludge). Raw wool like all other natural fibres contains many impurities. It is scoured at hot temperatures in an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) and detergent to emulsify the grease. The process produces an effluent with high suspended solids content, high temperature, and high BOD.

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