Title : Rapid screening methods of harmful chemicals in textiles
Abstract:
The detection rate of harmful chemicals in textiles is usually less than 1%. However, the testing process consumes a large number of reagent and consumables, which produces a large amount of waste to pollute the environment. Moreover, the test period is long and the cost is high. This project focuses on the toxic and harmful chemicals in the national mandatory standard GB 18401-2010 "National Basic Safety Technical Specifications for Textile Products", GB 31701-2015 "Safety Technical Specifications for Infant and Children's Textile Products" and GB/T 14272-2021 "Down Clothing". We have developed a series of rapid screening methods and colored products for harmful substances such as formaldehyde, azo, lead, cadmium, APEO, and so on. The coloring product of formaldehyde is blue-green, which is easier to be distinguished than the yellow color presented in the existing standard. The coloring time is shortened from 1 h to 5 min. The detection limit is 20 mg/kg, which can meet the limited value requirements (75 mg/kg) specified in GB 18401-2010 "National Basic Safety Technical Specifications for Textile Products". The coloring product of azo is yellow, which was added to the solution of aromatic amines after reduction of azo dyes. If the color of the sample solution changed, it may contain azo dyes. This rapid screening method of azo shortens the testing time from 1 day to 1.5 hours. The detection limit is 5 mg/kg, which meets the limited value requirements (20 mg/kg) specified in GB 18401-2010 "National Basic Safety Technical Specifications for Textile Products". X-ray testing of Pb and Cd in textile coatings has been developed, which is non-destructive testing without digestion. The testing time was shortened from 1 day to 5 minutes. This method meets the limit value specified in GB 31701-2015 "Safety and Technical Specifications for Infant and Children's Textile Products" (the limit value of Pb is 90 mg/kg, and the limit value of Cd is 40 mg/kg). Besides the above methods, we also developed the chromogenic agent for the rapid detection of APEO and its detection limit could reach 20 mg/kg without using expensive equipment such as LC-MS/MS. Moreover, we developed rapid detection chromogenic reagent for the rapid identification of down/polyester and silk/cotton. These rapid screening products can be used for internal quality control of large textile manufacturers, and form a supplementary verification scheme for existing standards to ensure the accuracy of the results. This presentation will elaborate on the developing process of these rapid screening methods. Moreover, it will provide the usage of the screening products and the advantage compared with the existing methods. In sum, our products are unique, which has not been reported all around the world.
