The International OEKO-TEX Association will offer a free webinar on February 6 at 12:00 Noon EST to review the recently announced 2013 updates to the OEKO-TEX Standard 100, particularly as they apply to U.S. textile products manufacturers, brands, and retailers. Dr. Sam Moore, who represents OEKO-TEX in North America, will moderate the webinar.
The OEKO-TEX Standard 100 is a global certification system which tests textile products for more than 300 potentially harmful substances such as formaldehyde, pesticides, carcinogenic dyestuffs, heavy metals, and dangerous surfactants. The certification is reviewed at least annually to ensure that the standard is current with textile chemistry, medical knowledge, and governmental textile safety regulations. The 2013 updates were announced following the OEKO-TEX General Managers Meeting held in New York in November and will go into effect on April 1, 2013.
Major updates to the OEKO-TEX Standard 100 are as follows:
• Textiles will be tested for eight additional PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) and limit values will be lowered.
• Textiles will be tested for three additional phthalates.
• Limit values for extractable nickel will be adapted to support changing standards in Europe.
• Regulations for problematic APEOs (nonylphenol, octyphenol, and alkylphenol ethoxylates), initially included in the OEKO-TEX Standard 100 in early 2012, will become fully binding in support of the “Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals” initiative.
The OEKO-TEX webinar will cover these updates in depth including the corresponding limit value and test method updates. Dr. Moore will be available for Q&A after his online presentation.
To participate in the lunchtime webinar on February 6, contact Dina Dunn at [email protected].
About OEKO-TEX
Celebrating its 21st Anniversary this year, the International OEKO-TEX Association, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, was founded by the Austrian Textile Research Institute and the German Hohenstein Research Institutes. Currently, its membership includes 15 independent textile research and testing institutes with 67 offices in 60 countries. To date, nearly 120,000 OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certificates have been issued—with more than 11,000 issued per year—and 9,500 companies in 90 countries are working with OEKO-TEX to ensure that their products are tested for potentially harmful substances.
