Oeko-Tex to become more strict on lead than CPSI - sportstextiles: Lea SportsTextiles

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Oeko-Tex to become more strict on lead than CPSIA

05/01/2011
The International Oeko-Tex Association has updated the criteria and limit values it uses when testing textiles for harmful substances in accordance with its Standard 100. “For many years now, the list of criteria has provided effective protection against undesirable chemical substances and it is used very successfully by the textile and clothing industry,” the Swiss-based organisation said on announcing the changes.

The updated list takes account of the regulations on harmful substances under the European REACH legislation, including the textile-relevant Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) that have been added to REACH in 2010 from the so-called Candidate List of substances that have come under scrutiny so far.

As a result, after a three-month transitional period, a series of new regulations will come into force for all Oeko-Tex certification processes.

Short chain (C10 to C13) chlorinated paraffins and tris(2-chloroethyl)phosphate, which were already “virtually banned” under the Standard 100 for use as flame retardants, will now, in view of their classification as SVHCs, be explicitly included in the list of banned flame-retarding substances. Including them by name in this list should lead to better comparability, Oeko-Tex said. The limit value is 0.1% by mass.

A standard limit value of 90 parts per million (ppm) for total lead content has been set for all four Oeko-Tex product classes, a limit which is well below that currently required by US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) legislation of 300 ppm or, from August 2011, 100 ppm for articles for babies and children.

The most essential requirement of the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 will remain testing for extractable heavy metals using a controlled sweat solution, because this method of testing—by simulating the actual conditions of use—gives a more meaningful result with regard to the possible health risks from undesirable heavy metals in textile products than the total content, the organisation said.

Universal on-site visits, which were introduced at the start of 2010 as a component of Oeko-Tex certification, will continue as planned. Even after one year, very real benefits can be seen both for the participating production companies and for retailers in terms of “the desired optimisation of the certification process”, the organisation said, adding that it intends to have visited all companies holding an Oeko-Tex certificate by the end of 2013.

The new test criteria and limit values will come into force on April 1.

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