How much do you know about textile chemicals?

In recent years, with the improvement of the domestic public's awareness of environmental protection and the continuous spread of social media at home and abroad on the resource consumption and environmental pollution of the fashion industry or clothing industry, consumers are no longer unfamiliar with some data. For example, the clothing industry is the world's second largest polluting industry, second only to the oil industry. For another example, the fashion industry generates 20% of the world's wastewater and 10% of the world's carbon emissions every year.

However, another key issue of equal importance seems unknown to most consumers. That is: chemical consumption and chemical management in the textile and clothing industry. 

The role of chemicals in textiles

When it comes to chemicals in the textile industry, many ordinary consumers' stress association is about what toxic and harmful substances are left on their clothes, or the picture of a large number of wastewater discharged by the clothing factory polluting the natural river. The impression is not good. However, few consumers have deeply investigated the role of chemicals in clothing, home textiles and other textiles that decorate our bodies and lives. 

Open your wardrobe and what catches your eye first? Color. Enthusiastic red, calm blue, steady black, mysterious purple, vibrant yellow, elegant gray, pure white... These clothing colors that you use to show part of your personality will not be realized without chemicals, or, to be precise, will not be so easy. Take purple as an example. In history, purple clothing usually belongs to the aristocratic or upper class. Because purple dyes are few, it is naturally expensive. Until the middle of the 19th century, a young British chemist accidentally discovered a purple compound in the process of synthesizing quinine, and purple gradually became a color that ordinary people can enjoy. 

In addition to giving color to clothes, chemicals also play a key role in enhancing the special functions of fabrics. For example, the most basic waterproof, wear-resistant and other functions. In a broad sense, every link from fabric production to final clothing products is closely related to chemicals. In other words, chemicals are the inevitable input of modern textile industry.

However, consumers' negative impression of chemicals in the clothing industry is not fabricated. Every textile manufacturing center in the world (including the former textile manufacturing center) inevitably experienced the scene of printing and dyeing wastewater "dyeing" the nearby river at a certain stage of development. For the textile manufacturing industry in some developing countries, this may be an emerging fact. Those colorful river pictures have become one of the main negative associations of consumers to textile and clothing production.

On the other hand, the problem of chemical residues on clothing, especially the residues of toxic and harmful substances, has caused some consumers to worry about the health and safety of textiles. This is most evident in the newborn parents. Take formaldehyde as an example. In terms of decoration, most of the public have been aware of the harm of formaldehyde, but few people pay attention to the content of formaldehyde when buying clothes. In the process of garment production, most of the dyeing auxiliaries and resin finishing agents used for color fixation and wrinkle prevention contain formaldehyde. Formaldehyde exceeding the standard on clothing has a strong stimulation on human skin and respiratory tract. Wearing clothes with excessive formaldehyde for a long time is likely to cause respiratory inflammation and dermatitis.

Textile chemicals needing attention

1. Formaldehyde

It is used for textile finishing, helping to fix color and prevent wrinkle, but there is concern about the relationship between formaldehyde and some cancers.

2. Heavy metals

Dyes and pigments may contain heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium, some of which are harmful to human nervous system and kidneys.

3. Alkyl phenol polyoxyethylene ether

It is commonly used in active agents, penetrants, detergents, softeners, etc. After entering the water body, it is harmful to some aquatic organisms, causing environmental pollution and destroying the ecological environment.

4. Azo dye prohibited

It is forbidden to transfer dyes from dyed textiles to the skin. Under certain conditions, reduction reaction will occur and carcinogenic aromatic amines will be released.

5. Chlorinated benzene and chlorinated toluene

The residue on polyester and its blended fabric is harmful to human body and environment, and can cause cancer and deformity in animals.

6. Phthalate

A common plasticizer. Children are easy to enter the body and cause harm after contact, especially after sucking.

On the one hand, chemicals are essential inputs; on the other hand, improper use of chemicals has great environmental and health risks. In this context, the management and monitoring of chemicals has become an urgent and important issue facing the textile and clothing industry, which is related to the sustainable development of the industry. 

Chemical QC

In fact, in the laws and regulations of various countries, there are concerns about textile chemicals. For the emission standards and restricted lists of each chemical, there are relevant licensing restrictions, testing mechanisms and screening methods. Taking formaldehyde as an example, China's national standard GB18401-2010 Basic Safety Technical Specifications for Textile Products clearly stipulates that the formaldehyde content in textiles and clothing shall not exceed 20mg/kg for Class A (baby products), 75mg/kg for Class B (products directly contacting human skin) and 300mg/kg for Class C (products not directly contacting human skin). However, there are huge differences between laws and regulations of different countries, which also leads to the lack of unified standards and methods for chemicals management in the actual implementation process, becoming one of the challenges in chemicals management and monitoring.