These will include updated test criteria and limit values for use when testing textiles for harmful substances.
For many years the textile and clothing industries have been using Oeko-Tex criteria in their quality control to ensure protection against undesirable chemical substances.
The revised list takes account of the regulation on harmful substances under the terms of the European REACH legislation and it now includes the textile-relevant SVHC substances, which were added to it in 2010.
Oeko-Tex revisions have also clarified the rules on flame-retardants. From 1 April, short chain (C10 to C13) chlorinated paraffins and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate, which were already virtually banned under the Oeko-Tex Standard 100, will now be explicitly included in the list of banned flame-retarding substances, after their classification as Substances of Very High Concern in the latest ECHA Candidate List,
A standard limit value of 90ppm for total lead content has been set for all four Oeko-Tex product classes. This is well below the limits that are currently required by US legislation of 300ppm and from August 2011, 100ppm for articles for babies and children.
