Some facts about "organic" cotton:
Organic certification
It is required by the law that any producer wanting to label and sell a product as "organic" must meet the standards established by the Organic Food Production Act of 1990, enforced by The State organic program (SOP) This act specifies the procedures and regulations for production and handling of organic crops.
Organic system plan
Producers must elaborate an organic production or handling system plan which must also be approved by the state certifying agency or the USDA. This plan must include careful explanation of every process held in the plantation, as well as the frequency with which they are performed. A list of substances used on the crops is also necessary, along with a description of their composition, place where they will be used, and if possible documentation of commercial availability. This inventory of substances is important for the regulation of allowed and prohibited material established by the SOP.Organic cotton growers must also provide A description of the control procedures and physical barriers established to prevent contact of organic and non organic crops on split operations and to avoid contact of organic production with prohibited substance during gestation, harvesting, and handling operations . This production plan can also be transferred to other states as long as it has already been approved by a certifying agency.
Production
Production requirements are specifically the set of changes that must be made to field and farming practices in order for a crop to be considered organic. To begin with, organic fields must go through a cleansing period of three years, without the use of any prohibited substances, before planting the first organic crop. Fields must also be equipped with physical barriers and buzzers in order to prevent contact of organic crops with any chemical substance product of surface runoff from crops near by. Producers must also strive to promote soil fertility through cultivation practices while maintaining or improving the physical, chemical, and biological condition of the soil and minimizes soil erosion. Organic growers must also implement practices to support biodiversity. Such practices include integrated pest management (IPM), which consists of the manipulation of ecosystems that benefit both the crops and the organisms that live around it. In addition to these practices, producers may only apply crop nutrients and soil amendments included on the National List of synthetic substances allowed in crop production.
Handling
Handling procedures are all the processes related to product packaging, pest control in handling processing facilities among others. The SOP allows the use of mechanical or biological methods for the purpose of retarding spoilage of products,but at the same time it prohibits the use of volatile synthetic solvents in processed products or any ingredient that is labeled as organic.
Pesticides
Since organic cotton is grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, it should contain fewer pesticides than conventional cotton. Pesticides used in the production of conventional cotton include orthophosphates such as phorate and methamidophos, endosulfan (highly toxic to farmers, but not very environmentally persistent) and aldicarb. Other pesticides persisting in cotton fields in the United States include Trifluralin, Toxaphene and DDT. Although the last two chemicals are no longer used in the United States their long breakdown period and difficulty in removal ensures their persistence. Thus even organic cotton fields may contain them since conventional cotton fields can be transitioned to organic fields in 2–3 years.
source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organic..._certification