Chinese workers are exposed to silicosis, a deadly lung disease, while working in factories that produce jeans for Western brands such as Levis, H&M and Gap. The ‘distressed’ denims found in almost any high street store come with a hidden human cost. Sandblasting, one of the techniques used to produce these popular jeans, destroy workers’ lives. War on Want jointly with their partners in China exposes in the report, Breathless for Blue Jeans: Health hazards in China’s denim factories, the plight of workers in six factories in Guandong, the Chinese province responsible for half of the world’s entire production of blue jeans.