Oeko-Tex supports compliance with new REACH standard

14 Feb '14

2 min read

Recently, European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) updated its candidate list of substances of very high concern (SVHCs) with an additional seven chemicals. On this occasion, the OEKO-TEX Association would like to inform all companies that five of the new SVHC substances are also relevant for the textile industry.

All five substances are already covered by the existing criteria catalogue used for product certification in accordance with the OEKO-TEX Standard 100.

This refers to the following chemicals:

- C.I. Direct Black 38 and C.I. Direct Red 28 have been included in tests for banned carcinogenic dyes and banned Azo colourants for many years.

- Dihexyl phthalate (DHP) is included in the list of regulated phthalates.

- Cadmium sulphide and lead diacetate are considered at the determination of the total cadmium and lead content and/or in laboratory tests for extractable heavy metals.

As the valid REACh regulation also obliges all companies in the textile and clothing industry to inform their customers if the manufactured goods contain SVHC substances in a quantity of more than 0.1 percent weight by weight, the OEKO-TEX Association pays particular attention to the identification and publication of SVHC substances in the candidate list.

If chemicals declared to be candidate substances by the ECHA can be used in textile production at the individual production levels, OEKO-TEX checks the explicit inclusion in the criteria catalogue to ensure better comparability with other harmful substance specifications.

The use of trixylyl phosphate, which was also newly included as a SVHC substance, as a fire-resistant substance in the clothing industry (OEKO-TEX product classes I to III) is rather not expected. Nevertheless, due to the existing prohibitions, it is also excluded for use in clothing for flame-retardant products as per the OEKO-TEX Standard 100.

Oeko-Tex Association

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