H&M chooses alternative water-repellent product
27/09/2012
Bavaria-based Rudolf, a specialist in textile auxiliaries and specialty chemicals, said on making the announcement that H&M has been using its Bionic product for water-repellant finishing on sportswear and children’s clothing since 2010. It explained that the product contains “a mixture of ‘comb’ polymers and highly branched polymers (dendrimers)” and is fluorocarbon-free.
“Critical reports on PFTs (perfluorinated surfactants) have been frequently published recently,” Rudolf said. “PFT is the generic term for all fluoro-organic compounds with a surfactant character. The best known representatives of this group are perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). These substances are watched because they are not degraded in the environment and, as far as toxicity is concerned, have not been thoroughly examined yet.”
It said it was a mistake to blame textile finishes that repel, water, oil and soil as the source of these substances. “Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are not used at all to impregnate textiles,” the company continued, “but are found in small quantities as by-products when manufacturing fluorine-containing impregnating agents.”
It said it has made every effort to eliminate these by-products in its production of Bionic and said it believes its alternative PFOS- and PFOA-free fluorocarbon water repellent product can help “open up new perspectives to the clothing sector”.
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