The European Commission has released a European Union (EU) regulation that will block the use of 34 chemicals in clothing and textiles used to make apparel, accessories, and some other products (such as sheets) that are regularly touched by consumers, as well as footwear, if these substances are present in concentrations over certain set limits. The new rules will come into force from 1 November 2020, with exemptions for clothing, related accessories or footwear made exclusively of natural leather, fur or hides; non-textile fasteners and non-textile decorative attachments; second-hand clothing; and wall-to-wall carpets and textile floor coverings for indoor use, rugs and runners.
A Commission preamble to the regulation, which was approved as a secondary law, without formal votes at the European Parliament and EU Council of Ministers, said that the restrictions were prompted by information highlighting “the potential for consumers to be exposed to CMR [carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic for reproduction] substances present in clothing and related accessories, other textiles or footwear through contact with the skin or through inhalation.”
Chemicals included in an annexe to the regulation (see https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018R1513&from=EN) include chromium VI compounds; cadmium; lead; benz[a]anthracene; diisopentylphthalate; and more.
Because of difficulties in sourcing alternatives to formaldehyde, a limit for this chemical (75 mg/kg) will come into force from 1 November 2023, with a 300 mg/kg limit imposed between 1 November 2020 and that later date.
