Friday, February 13, 2009

PFOS in Textile

PFOS (Perfluoroctane sulfonates) is the substances for surface treatment applications for giving the surface material with repellent properties against water, oil and soil and softer handfeeling. In textile industry, the application likes rainwear, upholstery fabric, curtain material, workwear, bed sheeting...etc.
As PFOS has the properties with water resistance, machanical load, intense heat and stable on the laundering and drycleaning processes. So, PFOS is widely applied in coated fabric in textile market nowadays.

When PFOS applied as a finishing treatment to textile materials, the perfluorocarbon chain tends to be orientated away from the surface, lowering the surface energy of the material, thereby forming a flexible replelling barrier and preventing anything from interacting with the fiber surface.

PFOS are regarded as inert chemicals and biologically inactive. But, PFOS were classified by Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) as very presistent, bio-accumulative and toxic (PBT) chemical compounds. Therefore, new EU Directive 2006/122/EC was issued.

EU Directive 2006/122/EC
Perfluoroctane sulfonates
C8F17SO2X (where X = OH, metal salt, halide amide and other derivatives including polymers)


(1) May not be placed on the market or used as a substance or constituent of preparations in a concentration equal to or higher than 0.005% by mass;

(2) May not be placed on the market in semi-finished products or articles, or parts thereof, if the concentration of PFOS is equal to or higher than 0.1% by mass;

Or, for textiles or other coated materials. If the amount of PFOS is equal to or higher than 1ug/m2 of the coated material.

Remarks
* PFOA is also a related substance of PFOS, which chemical at the heart of this Class Action lawsuit is Ammonium Perfluorooctanoate, commonly referred to as C8, C-8, or APFO.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

1-Year Stay of Enforcement for the CPSIA

One Year Stay of Testing and Certification Requirements for Certain Products


The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is already voted to issue a one year stay of enforcement for certain Testing and Certification requirements for manufacturers and importers of regulated products, including products intended for children 12 years old and younger. These requirements are part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which added certification and testing requirements for all products subject to CPSC standards or bans.


It means that the commission will not enforce the testing and certification portion of the Act. Manufacturers and importers of children products will not need to test or certify to these new requirements, but will need to meet the lead and phthalates limits, mandatory toy standards and other requirements.


The stay does not apply to:
1. Four requirements for third-party testing and certification of certain children products subject to:
- The ban on
lead in paint and other surface coatings;
- The standards for
full-size and non full-size cribs and pacifiers;
- The ban on
small parts; and
- The limits on
lead content of metal components of children jewelry.
2. Certification requirements applicable to ATV.
3. Pre-CPSIA testing and certification requirements; and
4. Pool drain cover requirements of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act.


Please kindly visit for the stay by CPSC in detail:

Monday, February 2, 2009

22 or 24 Banned Amines Substances of Azo Dyes Regulation?


According to Commission of the European Communities: Directive 2002/61/EC, there are 22 banned amines substances as below.
4-aminodiphenyl/xenylamine/Biphenyl-4-ylamine (CAS no. 92-67-1)
Benzidine (CAS no. 92-87-5)
4-chloro-o-toluidine (CAS no. 95-69-2)
2-naphthylamine (CAS no. 91-59-8)
o-aminoazotoluene/4-o-tolylazo-o-toluidine/4-amino-2’,3-dimethylazobenzene (CAS no. 97-56-3)
2-amino-4-nitrotoluol/5-nitro-o-toluidine (CAS no. 99-55-8)
p-chloranilin/4-chloroaniline (CAS no. 106-47-8)
2,4-diaminoanisole/4-methoxy-m-phenylenediamine (CAS no. 615-05-4)
4,4'-diaminodiphenylmethane/4,4-methylenedianiline (CAS no. 101-77-9)
3,3'-dichlorobenzidine/3,3’dichlorobiphenyl-4,4’-ylenediamine (CAS no. 91-94-1)
3,3'-dimethoxybenzidine/o-dianisidine (CAS no. 119-90-4)
3,3'-dimethybenzidine/4,4’-bi-o-Toluidine (CAS no. 119-93-7)
3,3'-dimethyl-4,4'-diaminodiphenylmethane/4,4’-methylenedi-o-toluidine (CAS no. 838-88-0)
p-cresidin/6-methoxy-m-toluidine (CAS no. 120-71-8)
4,4'-methylene-bis-(2-chloro-aniline)/2,2’-dichloro-4,4’methylenedianiline (CAS no. 101-14-4)
4,4'-oxydianiline (CAS no. 101-80-4)
4,4'-thiodianiline (CAS no. 139-65-1)
o-toluidine/2-aminotoluene (CAS no. 95-53-4)
2,4-toluylenediamine/4-methyl-m-phenylenediamine (CAS no. 95-80-7)
2,4,5-trimethylaniline (CAS no. 137-17-7)
4-aminoazobenzene (CAS no. 60-09-3)
o-anisidine/ 2-methoxyaniline (CAS no. 90-04-0)


For Oeko-tex standard 100, the list is upgraded to 24 banned list. Which the below 2 arylamines substances are addiationally put into the list.
2,4-Xylidine (CAS no. 95-68-1)
2,6-Xylidine (CAS no. 87-62-7)
For more information about Okeo-tex, please kindly visit www.oeko-tex.com.