The outdoor supplier Jack Wolfskin, based in Idstein, Germany, has announced that all of its weather protection products will be manufactured without the use of Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) by the end of 2014. Whilst in Europe products containing PFOS are regulated by the 2006/122/EC Directive with the threshold value of 1 µg/m2, there are still no legal restrictions on the use of the controversial PFOA.
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) belongs to the group of fluorinated surfactants, which is also the umbrella term for all fluoro-organic compounds which are surfactant in character. There are numerous potential applications, ranging from Teflon pans and hydraulic fluids to cleaning agents and water-repellent coatings for textiles. Jack Wolfskin has been working towards offering weather protection products manufactured without the use of PFOA since 2009.
“PFOA has been a topic of debate for some time now and represents a challenge for manufacturers of functional apparel, as up to now there have been few adequate alternatives, and phasing it out would involve converting the entire textile manufacturing chain,” stated Christian Brandt, COO at Jack Wolfskin. “However, we decided to take this step early on, particularly because the insufficient biodegradability of PFOA prevents long-term use.”
Jack Wolfskin has already been regulating chemical thresholds for several years in a company list of hazardous materials, which is in many cases more stringent than required by legal regulations or industry standards. Long before the inception of the Oeko-Tex® Standard 100, Jack Wolfskin was regulating the use of PFOA, with its targets based on the stringent guidelines of the bluesign standard. The process of replacing PFOA with an alternative will be completed in 2014.
Jack Wolfskin is one of the leading providers of functional outdoor clothing, footwear and equipment in Europe and the largest franchisor in the German specialist sports retail market. Jack Wolfskin products are currently available in more than 600 franchise stores and at over 4,000 points of sale across Europe and Asia. Jack Wolfskin products feature a high degree of functionality, user-friendliness and innovation.
Source:
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=115889
