OEKO-TEX® supports compliance with REACh regulations

Published On: February 28, 2014

OEKO-TEX® Association informs companies of SVHCs found in textiles.

In December 2013, the 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.

More detailed information on the criteria catalogue for the OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and the subject of REACh conformity is available from the OEKO-TEX® secretariat, contact info@oeko-tex.com. The current test criteria and limit values for the OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 are published under www.oeko-tex.com/limitvalues. The latest version of the ECHA candidate list with SVHC substances is available at http://echa.europa.eu/web/guest/candidate-list-table

Source: OEKO-TEX®