Chemical safety of textiles and plastics

RSL in the prevention of harmful substances

The globalisation of the textile and plastic converting industry makes it increasingly difficult and complex to control the production flow and to exactly know the products (chemicals) that have been used. Morevover, consumers and their organisations want to be informed about the composition of the products they buy and demand that they do not contain harmful substances.

In order to avoid any negative publicity on health issues, it is only a matter of common sense to take preventive measures, such as the Restricted Substances List (RSL)
Centexbel will help you draw up your RSL list that may include harmful substances such as heavy metals (Ni, Cr, Pb), phthalates and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAK)
The RSL serves as the basis for an agreement between your company and your suppliers about the absence or restricted use of the listed substances.

Centexbel assists your company in checking whether the rules are respected. In agreement with the company, a test programme will be set up to assess the conformity with the RSL. The test results are based on the use of a variety of testing techniques, such as:

ICP-OES - quantitative determination of heavy metals
GC-MS - Gas chromatography, combined with the mass spectrometer, provides information on alkylphenoles, corresponding ethoxylates, chlorophenols, organotin compounds, pesticides, phthalates, polyaromatic hydrocarbon, chlorobenzenes and toluenes
thermal extraction precedes the analyses on the GS-MS, e.g. in the determination of dimethylfumarate, solvents and other volatile organic compounds (VOC)
HPLC - liquid chromatography to determine azo and disperse dyestuffs
specific and fast screening techniques (XRF and IR) to select critical compounds in complex articles before proceeding to an in-depth analysis of the relevant parameters