OEKO-TEX® Test Criteria 2013

Zurich (hm) With regard to product certification according to OEKO-TEX^® Standard 100, the OEKO-TEX^® Association has as usual updated the applicable test criteria and limit values at the beginning of year. After a three-month transitional period the following new regulations will come into force for all certification procedures on 1 April 2013.

The textiles submitted for certification will in future be tested for eight additional polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In product category I the existing limit value for benzo(a)pyrene will furthermore be lowered to 0.5 mg/kg and the previously valid sum limit value for all other PAHs will be lowered to 5 mg/kg.
 
In view of the classification as a "substance of very high concern" (SVHC) in the sense of the REACh legislation, dimethylformamide (DMF) will be added to the list of regulated solvents. A limit value of 0.1 % applies.
 
In addition to this, all test samples will in future be tested for three additional phthalates which are potentially harmful to health as they have also been classified as SVHCs or are partly listed in the REACh 'Registry of Intentions'. The sum limit values of 0.1 % for product category I and product categories II to IV remain.
 
Due to the limitation stipulated in annex XVII of the REACh regulation, dimethyl fumarate (DMFu) will in future be listed with a limit value of 0.1 mg/kg as an additional substance in the list of residual chemicals regulated by OEKO-TEX^® and will be tested for in relevant items.
 
Due to the change of the European standard for determining nickel release, the limit values for extractable nickel will be adapted in all four OEKO-TEX^® product categories. The new limit values will be 0.5 mg/kg for product category I and 1.0 mg/kg for product categories II to IV.
 
The regulation of nonylphenol, octylphenol and alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs), which was already introduced for product certification according to OEKO-TEX^® Standard 100 in early 2012, will now become finally binding for all product certifications according to OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 from 1 April 2013.

The following limit values apply:
- sum of octylphenol (OP) and nonylphenol (NP) = 50 mg/kg (equal to 0.005 weight by weight)
- sum of octylphenol, nonylphenol, octylphenol-(1-2)-ethoxylate and nonylphenol-(1-9)-ethoxylate = 500 mg/kg (equal to 0.05 weight by weight)

With these limit values OEKO-TEX^® supports the 'Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC)' initiative. The process of raising awareness among the companies involved in the OEKO-TEX® system with regard to these problematic substances, which are harmful to the environment and can be found in auxiliary materials, will be further intensified during the company audits.
 
Every OEKO-TEX® certificate issued in future will explicitly state that the conformance of items which are marked with the OEKO-TEX^® label will be verified regularly through company audits.

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