PFOA in new category as OEKO-TEX updates Standard 100
14/01/2014
As of 1 April, the specifications for perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA) will become much stricter.
Four longer-chained, perfluorinated compounds will also be included in the criteria catalogue with the same limit values as PFOA. Specifically, these are the substances perfluoroundecanoic acid / heni-cosafluoroundecanoic acid (CAS 2058-94-8), perfluorododecanoic acid / tricosafluorododecanoic acid (CAS 307-55-1), perfluorotridecanoic acid / pentacosafluorotridecanoic acid (CAS 72629-94-8) and perfluorotetradecanoic acid / heptacosafluorotetradecanoic acid (CAS 376-06-7). The reason behind this is the inclusion of the chemicals in the ECHA Candidate List with substances of very high concern (SVHC) as part of the REACh legislation.
With these two measures, OEKO-TEX is supporting the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals initiative of international brands and retailers that have committed to excluding hazardous chemicals from the production process by 2020.
All the perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) regulated by OEKO-TEX will be listed in a separate substance category, and not, as previously, in the section ‘Other Chemical Residues’.
For the alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs), the test will be extended to further ethoxylate chains (1-20).
The limit values for nonylphenol (NP) and octylphenol (OP) as well as for nonylphenol ethoxylates (NP(EO)) and octylphenol ethoxylates (OP(EO)) will be significantly reduced in all OEKO-TEX product classes: Sum: NP + OP: 10.0 mg/kg (previously 50 mg/kg); Sum: NP + NP(EO)1-20 + OP + OP(EO)1-20: 250.0 mg/kg (previously 500 mg/kg).
The company said in a statement: “By reducing the limit values, OEKO-TEX is contributing to the complete exclusion of NP and OP as well as APEOs from textile production, striven for by the industry and also one of the goals of the ZDHC initiative and other campaigns. As a result of the globally introduced company audits as an element of every OEKO-TEX certification, all the companies participating in the OEKO-TEX system have also been made aware of these environmentally harmful, problematic substances.”
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