European Convention on Human Rights

The European Convention on Human Rights is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. All Council of Europe member states are party to the Convention and new members are expected to ratify the convention at the earliest opportunity.

There are 18 Articles (listed below) and 7 Protocols

1. Respecting Rights
2. Life
3. Torture
4. Servitude
5. Liberty and Security
6. Fair Trial
7. Retroactivity
8. Privacy
9. Conscience and Religion
10. Expression
11. Association
12. Marriage
13. Effective Remedy
14. Discrimination
15. Derogations
16. Foreign Parties
17. Abuse of Rights
18. Permitted Restrictions

Source: Wikipedia entry accessed 2nd April 2019

Keeping Wasps Away

To keep wasps away, especially when eating outside, use a match to light a small ceramic container of dried coffee grounds.

Just a couple of teaspoons will smoulder for hours.

Source: Good Housekeeping, June 2019

Covid-19 Immunity

Immunity

We don't yet know exactly how long we will be immune from Covid-19 after recovery.

• People acquire immunity either by exposure to a disease when they produce antibodies, or by vaccination.
• Our immune system remembers some infections, but forgets others. One bout of measles should give lifelong immunity, so vaccination is a good strategy. The four viruses that produce the common cold give short-lived immunity, and the infection is usually mild.

Covid-19 immunity. Current data points to a robust and lasting immunity (antibodies, B cells, T cells and memory cells) from trial volunteers, who are still being monitored. It is normal for an immune response to spike early on, then fall away precipitously, only to plateau after six to eight weeks. Trial data suggests that immunity could be at least a year. However, mild or asymptomatic cases might produce only short-lived local immunity in the lining of the airways. Very few cases of re-infection have been identified, and it does not appear to look like a serious problem for vaccines.

Herd immunity is when sufficient people in a population have had and recovered from a disease or have received an effective vaccination. If this figure is high enough (60% or higher?), the more vulnerable people have less chance of becoming infected. Specific diseases have different herd immunity thresholds (HIT).

• For measles, the HIT is 95%.
• For smallpox and polio, the HIT is 80% to 86%.
• For influenza, the HIT is 33% to 44%.

One estimate is that some 19 million people in the UK may already have had the infection but mass testing would be needed to support or revise this figure.

The UK population is currently (4 May 2020) about 66,720,000, so 1% is 667,201, 20% is 133,440,240, and 40% is 266,880,480.

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Covid-19 Treatment

Treatment

Covid-19 is an entirely new virus and the medical and scientific communities are still studying the virus, how it spreads, what it does to the body, and how best to treat it.

Mild and moderate cases

• Symptoms include a new dry cough, fever, and loss of taste and smell. Some people also report stomach upsets and diarrhoea, 'brain fog', and exhaustion, If you have these symptoms you are advised to self-isolate at home. 
• If you develop difficulty breathing, people in the UK should phone 111 for advice; they may need hospital care. 
• Favipiravir is being trialled as a first anti-viral treatment for against mild Covid-19. Anti-viral drugs stop viruses replicating. Already in use as a flu drug, this trial will see if it stops Covid-19 symptoms progressing. If effective, it could be taken following a positive test or known exposure to a carrier. Trials in Glasgow and London hope to have early results around Sept. 2021.

Severe cases
One factor in serious and critical cases is the immune system going haywire, causing widespread inflammation inside the body and ultimately leading to fatal organ damage. This reaction can be measured using a standard blood test for a compound called C-reactive protein (CRP). Patients can be checked as soon as they come into hospital, and those with worrying CRP levels flagged as needing extra attention.

Covid-19 also leads to a higher risk of blood clots in the lungs (this happens with flu as well but it is worse with Covid-19). Now this is known, blood-thinning treatment can be given early on.

It is possible that different drugs work best at different times during illness with Covid-19.

• People with difficulty breathing are treated in hospital, initially in the Intensive Care Unit. Here specific treatment will be given to help breathing by using nasal tubes or continuous air pressure (CPAP) face masks. In addition, any pre-existing medical conditions will also be treated.
• Moving patients to the prone (face down) position relieves pressure on the lungs and can be helpful. It requires eight staff to turn patients in this way.
• If symptoms worsen, patients are moved to Critical Care.
• Olumiant (baricitinib) is an arthritis drug. It reduces the ability of the virus to infect lung cells. Cuts deaths in hospital by 71% in those with moderate or severe Covid-19, including the elderly. 
• Actemra (tocilzumab), an anti-inflammatory used for rheumatoid arthritis. Stops the potentially fatal cytokine storm - an over-reaction of the immune system causing inflammation. Helps critically-ill patient recovery, with 87% likely to see symptoms improve within 28 days. Reduced intensive care deaths from 36% to 27%.
• Interferon beta is part of the body's first line of defence against viruses, warning it to expect a virus attack. Covid-19 seems to suppress its production as part of its strategy to evade our immune systems. Interferon beta is already used as a drug used to treat active, relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS). The new drug is a special formulation delivered directly to the airways via a nebuliser which makes the protein into an aerosol. Early findings show it cuts the risk of Covid-19 hospital patients developing severe disease (e.g. requiring ventilation) by almost 80%. A large scale trial with Covid-19 patients in hospital was begun in January 2021, with results expected summer 2021. 

Critical cases For the critically ill, the disease causes such severe inflammation and blood clotting that it attacks multiple organs and causes life-threatening problems that cascade around the body.

• Patients are put on ventilator machines which will breath for them. A tube is inserted into the air passage (trachea) through a small slit in the throat made under sedation. Patients remain under sedation while on the machine.
• Doctors are now finding that patients may have small blood clots in the lungs; these are life threatening. 'Blood thinner' drugs are being tried but results are variable and under investigation through clinical trials at present. (Precise figures are not known but it may be that 30% (or even more) have this.)
• Dexamethasone is a steroid, that reduces inflammation by mimicking anti-inflammatory hormones produced by the body. Used if the immune system goes into overdrive. Only suitable for hospital patients receiving oxygen or mechanical ventilation, as suppressing the immune system of those with milder symptoms would not be helpful. Trials indicate one in three deaths could be  prevented if ventilated, and one in five deaths of those on oxygen. [First made in 1957, it is now out of patent and so is low-cost, therefore widely available worldwide. BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53077879 ]
  
• Monoclonal antibody treatment. Made by Regeneron, it contains large doses of two specific antibodies, made in the lab, that are good and binding to the virus to stop it infecting cells and replicating. The Recovery trial found that given in addition to the anti-inflammatory steroid drug dexamethasone, which itself cuts death risk for the sickest Covid patients, it further reduces the risk of death, the length of hospital stay (by four days on average), and the likelihood of needing a ventilator to breathe. It is expected that only those who have not already made any antibodies of their own to fight the virus should be given the treatment, which costs between £1,000 and £2,000. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57488150
• Hydrocortisone is a corticosteroid used for treating a range of conditions. It decreases your immune system's response to various diseases to reduce symptoms such as pain, swelling and allergic-type reactions. It has been found to cut Covid-19 deaths by up to 31% and improve outcomes by up to 93% in critically ill patients. The best dosage is still under investigation.
• Tocilizumab and Sarilumab are both anti-inflammatories, administered by drip. Jan 2021: UK approved for Covid-19 treatment if despite Dexomethasone treatment the patient is still deteriorating and needs intensive care. They reduce deaths by 1 in 12 (8%) but also speed up recovery and reduce time spent in hospital. Tocilizumab and Sarilumab are more expensive than Dexamethasone at £75 to £1K per patient, but an intensive care bed costs around £2K per day.

Recovery

• Once over the crisis, hospitalized patients may need several weeks to recover enough to leave hospital.
• This may include physiotherapy as the lungs heal, and for having lain still for so long, and speech therapy if they have been on a ventilator.

Other treatments being studied

Because Covid-19 is a new disease, medical doctors and scientists are observing a variety of symptoms and damage, and are still researching potential ways to most effectively treat it. The following are currently being studied and used in clinical trials. It will take some time for the results to be fully evaluated. News item links are given when available.

Treatments discontinued as ineffective 

• Remdesivir is a broad-spectrum antiviral medication originally developed to treat Ebola. Clinical trials were initially promising, so it was approved by regulators for selected patients. However, further data shows that it appears to have little or no effect on death rates, length of hospital stay or severity of illness.  
• Blood plasma donations from patients who have recovered from Covid-19. Trials show this does not reduce deaths or improve outcomes for those in intensive care.  

T- cell function

• Those with the most severe form of the disease have extremely low numbers of an immune cell called a T-cell, which clear infection from the body. A clinical trial will evaluate if using a interleukin 7 (a drug known to increase T-cell numbers) can aid recovery. [Read in full.]

Oxygen levels and mechanical ventilation

• Some patients have very low levels of oxygen (O2) in their blood but are functioning relatively well. The usual aim is to keep the O2 level at 90% or above. It is thought that the inflammation may be stopping the O2 getting into the blood but the lungs themselves may not be so affected. Many doctors now question whether mechanical ventilation is always the right course of treatment or is the wrong treatment at the wrong time. [Read in full.]

Blood clots

Various studies are looking at the use of 'blood thinner' medications already used to prevent blood clots.

• When the lining of the blood vessels gets inflamed, the blood is more likely to clot. Covid-19 creates very thick, sticky blood in seriously ill patients, causing small clots in the small arteries of the lungs, but also big clots in the bid arteries of the lungs. More than a quarter of these patients have significant clots. You are also more likely to have a deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot in your leg) or a pulmonary embolism, where a deep vein thrombosis travels and blocks the blood supply to the lungs. [Read in full.]
• Blood clots also prevent proper circulation of the blood to other organs such as the heart and the brain, making it more likely Covid-19 patients could have a heart attack or a stroke. One warning sign is the level of fibrinogen (the main protein that forms blood clots) in your blood. Normally between 2 and 4 grams per liter of blood, Covid-19 patients may have levels as high as 10 to 14 grams per litre. [Read in full.]
• Another clotting risk measure is the level of a blood protein called a D-dimer. Healthy levels are in the tens or hundreds, but  Covid-19 patients often have levels of 60 or 70, or even 80,000. As well as indicating the presence of multiple blood clots, D-dimers can also indicate a severe infection that triggers a lethal over-reaction from the body's immune system. [Read in full.]
• More than 2,000 Covid patients admitted to intensive care have suffered kidney failure. Using dialysis machine support has problems as the blood flowing through the machines clots far more readily than usual, so increased amounts of blood thinning medication are needed.

Inflammation

• Ibuprofen is well known as an anti-inflammatory drug, but is also an anti-inflammatory. Animal studies suggest it might treat acute respiratory distress syndrome (one of the complications of Covid-19) and the hope is that the low-cost treatment can keep patients off ventilators. The trial will use a special formulation of the drug. [Read in full.]
• Cytokines are small molecules produced by the body as a chemical warning system to the immune system. They lead to inflammation that allows you to fight an infection, but in some Covid-19 patients, if the infection overwhelms the response, there is a massive release of cytokines, causing even more inflammation, leading to breathing problems and damage to other organs - the kidneys, the heart, the liver and seen severely inflamed muscle which is doing a lot of damage. [Read in full.]
• A growing number of patients are having significant inflammation of the brain, causing everything from delirium and confusion, to fits and diffuse encephalitis (people not waking up properly when taken off a ventilator.) [Read in full.]

Vitamin K deficiency

A study in the Netherlands has found that patients admitted to intensive care with Covid-19 have been found to be deficient in vitamin K, which is found in spinach, eggs, and hard and blue cheeses and absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. Vitamin K is key to the production of proteins that regulate blood clotting and can protect against lung disease. 

The virus causes blood clotting and leads to the degradation of elastic fibres in the lungs. Dutch researchers are seeking funding for a clinical trial of high dose vitamin K on very sick patients, unless they are already on blood-clotting ('blood thinning') medications.

Vitamin K1 is found in spinach, broccoli, green vegetables, blueberries - in fact, all types of fruit and vegetables. Vitamin K2 is better absorbed by the body and is found in cheeses, especially hard and blue cheeses, and additionally in a Japanese delicacy of fermented soya beans, known as natto. [Read in full.]

Questions still to be answered are: 

• Existing medications are being investigated for potential benefit of Covid-19 patients. It is thought that anti-virals may be more effective in the early stages of the infection, and the immune drugs later in the disease, but this still needs to be confirmed.
• When is the right time to mechanically ventilate Covid-19 patients?
• What are the best anti-viral drugs to use?
• What are the right doses of anti-inflammatory or immune-suppressing drugs to use?
• Can using convalescent plasma (antibodies from patients who have recovered) be part of the solution?
• Do low vitamin D levels pose a greater risk to being infected or recovering from Covid-19?

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Refillable Perfumes

The perfume industry is slowly moving to respond to concerns about waste - perfumes tend to be in specially made bottles which are in cardboard boxes, and you buy bottle and box every time. Ok, you can recycle the card, but maybe not the bottle as it may have special finishes. But things are changing.

2019: Lancome: Idole perfume now comes in a bottle that can be refilled at the counter.

2019: The Body Shop will take back empty containers for recycling and are working on their Plastics for Change project.


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Covid-19 Severity and Deaths

In most cases (80%) there are mild symptoms, which typically recover in two weeks, or even no symptoms. A small study in China suggests those with mild symptoms have fewer virus particles in their bodies. 

A few people (estimated between 1% and 3% of those who catch the virus) are severely ill and require hospital treatment and may take 3 to 6 weeks to recover. In many of these cases, treatment with CPAP (Continuous Pressure Airway Pumps), may be sufficient medical assistance. Patients may be turned to the prone position as lying on the back puts pressure on the lungs. Giving oxygen early on seems to be the best treatment.

If this treatment is not effective, patients are put on a ventilator, which takes over the breathing. The patient is anaesthetised and a tube inserted through the mouth and into the trachea. As they are already very sick, and the majority have other medical conditions, the likelihood of death is high.

The time from symptom onset to death ranges from two to eight weeks. On 25 March 2020, the rate of death in confirmed cases was 4.5%. This average figure masks a range from 0.2% (young with no other health problems) to 15% (older with other health problems). 

Because many cases (especially early in the pandemic) are not confirmed, the extent of infections was initially under-reported. It was first thought that the fatality rate was likely to be 2%  but now (October 2020) the UK fatality rate is about 0.5%. Only a tiny fraction of these are under 45 years old, and the risk really increases after age 65.

The death rate for flu is 0.1%. However, flu vaccines are widely available and many countries have good vaccination programmes. If effective vaccines and vaccination programmes are developed for Covid-19, the fatality rate will drop.

Age is a high risk factor due to increased likelihood of patient having one or more other medical conditions. (In UK, more than half Covid-19 deaths occur in those over 80; around nine-tenths occur in those over 60.) While that puts things in perspective, it doesn't make it any easier to face if the deceased is a much loved relative or friend.

How you get immunity - a simple explanation (Zania Stamataki in The Guardian, 10 April 2020)

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Covid-19 Infection Rates

Infection rates

Currently thinking is that each infected person infects between 1.4 and 2.5 other people. (WHO, 4 April 2020).

The infection rates are for people who have been tested and found to be infected.

This figure does not include those who have had mild symptoms but not been tested.

The only way to find the real infection rate is to mass test to identify people with Covid-19 antibodies (produced by the body's immune system when it fights off the infection). 

[Work is currently in progress to create a reliable test kit and produce it in sufficient numbers to carry out mass testing.]

How you get immunity - a simple explanation (Zania Stamataki in The Guardian, 10 April 2020)

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How Covid-19 Spreads

How Covid-19 spreads (transmission)
The virus typically spreads during close contact when people cough or sneeze. It may also occur during conversation over a period of time in close contact. The virus attaches to water molecules in breath, sneezes and coughs. As these are heavy molecules they drop to the ground fairly quickly, so social distancing (maintaining a physical distance of 6 ft or 1.8 metres from others) helps reduce transmission.

Feb. 2021: researchers have found that coughing produces ten times more infectious 'aerosol' particles compared to sneezing or breathing. It is thought that this may explain why healthcare workers are four times more likely to contract the virus than the general population. There are now calls for them to be given higher grade PPE and for hospital ventilation to be improved. Infection rates for general hospital staff are almost double that of staff in intensive care units who have access to full PPE.

• Follow link to see: Here's what 6ft looks like (BBC News).

It may also spread when someone touches a contaminated surface (contagion) and then their face. Research has found that the virus can live on some surfaces for up to 72 hours in laboratory conditions with stable temperatures, humidity and in the dark; these conditions do not reflect real life fluctuating temperatures and humidity and sunlight.

• The risk from books with paper or cardboard covers is negligible after 24 hours.
• The risk from books in plastic covers is negligible after 72 hours.

It is most contagious when people have symptoms, but spread is also possible before symptoms appear.

Recommended ways of preventing infection include frequent hand washing, social distancing, covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or inner elbow, and keeping unwashed hands away from the face.

An infection rate (R) of more than 1 means cases of the disease are increasing, while a rate of below R1 indicates that it is under control (the UK rate was R0.7 on 30 April.) The challenge is keeping it at this level while relaxing social distancing and isolation.

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Covid-19 symptoms

Covid-19 symptoms

• Common symptoms: fever, cough and shortness of breath.
• Mild symptoms can appear to be a common cold (especially with the Delta variant).
• Some people report taste and smell is affected.
• Other symptoms occur as the virus moves around the body and internal organs.

In most cases (80%) there are mild symptoms (which typically recover in two weeks) or even no symptoms. Mild symptoms can appear to be a common cold, and some people report taste and smell is affected. A small study in China suggests those with mild symptoms have fewer virus particles in their bodies. June 2021: The most common symptoms of the Delta variant are headache, sore throat and runny nose.

It can be anything from 2 days to 14 days between exposure and showing symptoms but is typically 5 to 6 days.

Common symptoms: fever, cough and shortness of breath and loss of sense of taste and smell. These led to an initial diagnosis of a respiratory infection. Once it was identified that the virus attaches to the ACE-2 enzyme (part of our immune system and present in many body tissues and organs) it made more sense that other symptoms are also reported. In many cases people are discharged from hospital but continue to have intermittent bouts of symptoms. There is no clear link between severity of initial infection and likelihood of post infections problems.

These other symptoms lead scientists to theorize that (a) there may be sub-types of the virus - possibly linked to the body organ affected and (b) identifying these may help in predicting which cases may become serious, and potentially the most effective treatment. The following symptoms have been reported with the virus, and may occur after discharge from hospital.

• Pain: chest pain, severe muscle pain, numbness.
• Neurological problems: tingling finger tips, brain fog, dizziness, seizures, hallucinations.
• Skin problems: small blisters on mouth or on torso, a reddish-purple rash, and chilblain-like lesions on toes 
• Gastrointestinal problems: bloating, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite (possibly linked to loss of taste and smell).
• Cardiovascular problems: after discharge from hospital some people later develop deep vein thrombosis, blood clots on the lung. Some relatively young and healthy people are having heart attacks or strokes with unusual features. 
• Extreme fatigue: may be linked to vascular symptoms such as blood clots - micro-clots in lungs could reduce oxygen supply to body, with the possibility of pneumonia infection.

Another problem that has emerged is that for some people the symptoms improve, and then return.

How you get immunity - a simple explanation (Zania Stamataki in The Guardian, 10 April 2020)

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Eco Skin Care and Beauty Products

How to recycle beauty products responsibly

• Good Housekeeping online: How to recycle beauty products.

If you are trying to be responsible about your skin care and beauty products, they can be difficult to find and new ones are now coming on to the market. I'll add to this list as I come across new ones (I'll add the date I come across each item), but I'm not promoting any of them.

Soaps and Cleansers

• Lush: Minimal packaging (from paper, cardboard and potato starch). (2020)
• Faith in Nature: Plastic packaging is 100% recycled and recyclable. Refill stations in independent health food stores. The most popular products come in 5L containers. (2020)
• Soap Co.: Soaps, bath potions and body care made using renewable energy. Employs a largely blind, disabled or otherwise disadvantaged workforce (guide dogs welcomed). Uses bee-friendly botanicals. Packaging is wool, compostable biofilm and non-toxic glue. (2020)
• Soaper Duper: Washes, scrubs and moisturisers. All of the tubs, tubes or bottles can go into recycling bin (no metal spring in the pumps). Company donates to Water Aid. (2020)
• We Are Paradoxx: Favours aluminium packaging which is endlessly recyclable and doesn't release toxins when broken down. Ingredients often locally sourced; formulas multi-purpose and potent so you use less. Donates 1% of profits to For The Planet. (2020)
• Medik8: Skincare products. Glass bottles are 40% recycled (they aim to increase the %). Packaging inserts are recycled card. Buildings run on renewable energy. Medik8's own charity, the Zipper Foundation, donates a minimum of £15,000 to animal welfare each year. (2020)
• Neal's Yard Remedies: Body, face and bath products. Has lobbied against Bee-harming insecticides and microbeads. In 2020 launched Project Frankincense, a tree-planting campaign to protect the endangered Boswellia sacra tree. (2020)
• Byre: An estimated 87,000 tons of whey is wasted every year by the dairy industry. Byre combines powdered whey with other natural ingredients to produce its body washes. A donation from sales goes to the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, which helps farm workers facing difficulties. (2020)
• Dr Craft: Their purple shampoo avoids the use of synthetics pigments by using anthocyanins from blackcurrants skins from food industry waste (e.g. Ribena manufacturing). (2020)
• Plastic Freedom: All beauty and household products are plastic-free. Packaging is cardboard and the company plants a tree for every order received by donating to One Tree Planted. (2020)
• Organic Apoteke: Skincare formulations that are free of emulsifiers. All the packaging is recyclable. (2020) 
• Haekels: Based in Margate, has zero waste aims. The handmade range uses locally harvested marine botanicals. Projects include a bartering day when customers exchanged their own items for products, and upcycling Christmas trees into scented candles. (2020)
• Biossance: Lightweight, hydrating and soothing skincare. All the packaging - except the pumps and bottle interiors - is fully recyclable. (2020)
• Bramley: Ingredients are natural, biodegradeable and grown in the UK. Plastic is made using sugarcane instead of fossil fuel. Glass bottles are available, and 5L bottles to refill from at home. (2020)
• Ren: Skin, body and bath products. Plans to be zero waste by 2021 by making every component of every tube, pot or bottle recyclable, compostable or reuseable. Is working with Terracycle's  new project Loop, which will collect specially made glass bottles from your door, for you to reuse, recycle or refill and return. (2020)
• The Body Shop: Recycling bins in stores are part of the aim to collect and recycle 25% more packaging than it sells. Bottles are 75% recycled plastic (a small quantity of virgin plastic (ideally not from fossil fuels) keeps the bottles going for longer. (2020)

• Face Halo: the Modern Makeup Remover (wipes). Just add water and wipe - no cleanser required. Removes all make-up, including eye make-up. You can machine wash the wipe around 200 times. (2019)
• Simple Kind to Skin Biodegradable Cleansing Wipes. The first mass-market, biodegradable make-up wipes. Made from sustainable wood pulp so will home compost in 42 days, but are still powerful enough to take off waterproof mascara without alcohol or harsh cleansing agents. (2109)

Beauty

• Dr Lipp Tint. Hint-of-a-tint lip balms that are good for everyday moisture and shine. Each has only four ingredients, one of which is a vegetable pigment (e,g, elderberry, sweet potato, radish) to give a natural looking colour. (2019)
• Axiology: Lipsticks and crayons are made from plant-based butters, oils and pigments, in recyclable casings, and packaged in cardboard sleeves made from recycled paper waste in Bali. Other products in development.
• Tropic: Refillable make-up palettes. Double-offsetting carbon emissions helps conservation projects in the Amazon and it funds one day's worth of school education in Cambodia, Nepal and Myanmar for every £50 in sales. (Also has skincare, haircare, bath and bodycare products.) (2020)
• Kevin.Murphy: Haircare brand aims to remove plastic by switching all products to 100% ocean waste plastic. (2020)

Fragrance

• Clean Reserve: A vegan fragrance brand sources ingredients from companies that pay Fairtrade prices and support the environment and local communities. Packaging includes compostable cellophane, water-based inks and sustainably sourced wood. (2020)

Good Housekeeping online: How to recycle beauty products.

Source: Features in Good Housekeeping, February 2019 and April 2020

Detergents - What Works Best?

Biological detergents have enzymes that boost cleaning power. Best for stain removal but not suitable for frequent use on silk or wool.

Non-biological detergents does not contain enzymes and is thought to be kinder to sensitive skin.

Powder detergents tend to be best at stain removal and are the cheapest.

Liquids are more expensive but handy to pre-treat stains.

Capsules are convenient but cost more and occasionally don't dissolve.

White cottons gone grey?
Rewash using maximum dose of detergent on the highest temperature recommended on the label. If that does not help, soak in a bleach solution and rinse through.

Source: Feature in Good Housekeeping, February 2019