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Standard 1000, the successful testing
for nonylphenols, nonylphenol-
(1-9)-ethoxylates, octylphenols and
octylphenol-(1-2)-ethoxylates will
in future also form a prerequisite for
product certification according to
OEKO-TEX Standard 100.
The limit values that apply to
all four product classes are nonylphenols:
100 ppm, octylphenols:
100 ppm, total nonylphenol-(1-9)-
ethoxylates: 1000 ppm, and total
octylphenol-(1-2)-ethoxylates: 1000
ppm.
The tests begin with the publication
of the new Standard. In order
to allow companies an adequate
time-frame to implement any necessary
changes in their production, the
requirements will only come into
force definitively after a transition
period on April 1, 2013. This regulation
does not apply to companies
certified according to OEKO-TEX
Standard 1000, as they already comply
with the required criteria.
• The limit value for extractable
chromium is set at 10 mg/kg for
leather products in product class IV.
This exception to the usual chromium
limit values for textile articles
corresponds to the best available
technology on the market at the current
time and does not pose any toxicological
risk when such products
are used as intended.
In addition to the new test parameters,
the scope of the control tests on
the OEKO-TEX certified products
carried out throughout the world is
being extended to cover 20 per cent
of all certificates issued annually in
future, as opposed to the minimum
15 per cent tested to date. In practice,
over recent years, an average of
18 per cent of certificates have been
tested using product samples taken
from the shops at the expense of the
OEKO-TEX Association.
A new complement to the OEKO-
TEX Standard 100 is now also available,
on the basis of which it will be
possible to certify special products
such as tents, prams, office chairs or
rucksacks according to OEKO-TEX
Standard 100 in future.
•
Delhi meet discusses major issues
With 11,283 certificates issued in
the last year alone, and more than
9,500 companies involved in the
scheme in over 90 countries, the
OEKO-TEX Standard 100 has once
again confirmed its position as the
world’s leading certification scheme
for textiles tested for harmful substances.
This was the conclusion at the
meeting of the heads of OEKO-
TEX institutes, which, in view of
the growing number of certificates
issued to production companies in
Asian countries such as India, took
place in Delhi for the first time on
November 7 and 8 last. As always,
the agenda included decision-making
on the new version of the OE-
KO-TEX list of criteria, and internal
agreement by the 15 OEKO-TEX
member-institutes on the existing
quality control procedures to en-
sure a consistent standard of testing
and compliance with the required
product quality, as well as on the
question of international trademark
protection for the “Confidence in
Textiles” label.
Another focus for discussion at the
meeting was an analysis of the company
audits that were introduced in
2010. Since April last year, said the
OEKO-TEX General Secretary, Dr.
Jean-Pierre Haug, the OEKO-TEX
Association had already visited over
2,000 companies internationally as
part of the certification process, in order
to give them customised support
with implementing the OEKO-TEX
requirements regarding operational
quality control. “When we carry out
company audits on the spot, we can
clarify any unresolved issues faceto-face
with the quality managers,
and so help the companies to gain
maximum value for money from the
certification process.”
It was therefore unanimously
agreed by the General Managers of
the OEKO-TEX institutes that global
company monitoring would continue.
The aim is for all certificateholders
to have been successfully
audited by 2013.
The OEKO-TEX representatives
also unanimously confirmed the initiative
by the technical OEKO-TEX
Executive Committee to introduce
checking for alkylphenolethoxylates
(APEOs) such as nonylphenol as a
requirement for product certification
under the OEKO-TEX Standard 100
in future. From January, nonylphenol,
nonylphenol-(1-9) ethoxylates,
octylphenol and octylphenol-(1-2)
ethoxylates will be included in the
OEKO-TEX list of criteria. So
from April 2013 companies will be
56 | The Textile Magazine jANUARY 2012