From the Sector

Archroma has introduced a new bio-based durable water repellent (DWR) finish that helps mills and brands produce apparel that is soft to the touch and yet offers robust rain and stain protection and an improved sustainability profile.

PHOBOTEX® NTR-50 LIQ is designed to provide great water repellence on all kinds of fibers while achieving a soft handle and avoiding undesired effects like yellowing and chalk marking. It performs especially well on synthetic fibers and their blends, making it ideal for apparel, outdoor wear and home textiles.

The new DWR is based on 50% renewable carbon content based on ASTM D6866 and is free of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and formaldehyde. It is also crosslinker-free, which makes it more flexible in use. While offering good wash durability on its own, PHOBOTEX® NTR-50 LIQ can be combined with a crosslinker like ARKOPHOB® NTR-40, which has a biocarbon content of 40%, to further boost wash and/or dry-cleaning resistance.

Sportswear, fashion and home textiles treated with the PHOBOTEX® NTR-50 LIQ durable water repellent qualify for the High IQ® Repel assurance program. The High IQ® program assures consumers that these products deliver performance, protection and comfort and meet strict environmental standards.

The European Chemicals Agency invites interested parties to send in scientific and technical information on the manufacture, placing on the market and use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by 25 September 2023.

The six-month consultation on the restriction proposal, prepared by the Danish, German, Dutch, Norwegian and Swedish authorities, opens on 22 March 2023 and closes on 25 September 2023 (23:59 Helsinki time).

The consultation is to give anyone with information on PFAS the opportunity to have their say. Of particular interest is information relevant to the risks, socio-economic aspects and alternative substances.

ECHA’s scientific committees for Risk Assessment (RAC) and for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC) will use the consultation input to evaluate the proposed restriction and form an opinion on it.

An online information session will be held on 5 April. During the session, experts from ECHA and the five national authorities will explain the restriction process, the content of the proposal and how to participate in the consultation. They will also respond to questions from the participants.

The five national authorities submitted the universal proposal to restrict PFAS to ECHA on 13 January. The European Commission, together with the EU Member States, will eventually decide on the potential restriction based on the proposal and the committees’ opinion.

Fashion giant H&M Group and Danish retailer Coop are joining chemical expert NGO ChemSec’s call to action to end the use of harmful PFAS chemicals in products and supply chains.
This commitment comes on the same day as award-winning actor Mark Ruffalo and director Todd Haynes address the EU Parliament to speak about the true story that inspired the duo’s latest film Dark Waters, in which an environmental attorney takes on chemical giant DuPont and exposes decades of PFAS pollution.
ChemSec’s corporate PFAS initiative includes:

• A call on policy makers to regulate PFAS efficiently, without the possibility for manufacturers to simply swap one PFAS chemical for an unregulated “cousin”.
• A call on the chemical industry to put money into innovation and develop safer alternatives to PFAS for all kinds of products.
• A recognition that PFAS are a major health and environmental problem.
• A serious commitment to end all non-essential PFAS uses in products and supply chains.
• A call on all other brands to join this commitment and work towards a phase-out of PFAS in all kinds of consumer products.

The single biggest problem with PFAS is that, with very few exceptions, they are perfectly legal to use. This means that the brands and retailers who want to stop it from being used as ingredients in their products have very limited ways of communicating this in the global supply chain. As long as there is not a restriction in place, suppliers will continue to use these very effective chemicals in manufacturing.  

PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, is a chemical family consisting of almost 5,000 industrially produced chemicals. In manufacturing, PFAS are favoured for their durability and well-functioning properties; they provide properties such as non-stick, water repellence and anti-grease to many types of products, including cosmetics, food packaging, frying pans, outdoor gear and firefighting foam.
The industrial use of PFAS has been so prevalent in the last decades that today 99% of every human, including foetuses, have measurable levels of PFAS in their bloodstreams.   
What is worrying is that human epidemiological studies have found associations between PFAS exposure and a number of health disorders, including various cancers, lowered birth weights and negative effects on the immune system.