Textile auxiliaries are chemicals that facilitate textile preparation, dyeing, printing, or imparting a finishing effect. Specialized textile auxiliaries also produce effects such as water repellency, flame retardancy, anti-odor, among other effects. Because textile auxiliaries have the potential to be released to the environment via wastewater following textile processing, it is critical to formulate with chemicals that are unlikely to harm aquatic organisms or persist in the environment. Because many of these formulations are applied via open spraying or padding approaches, workers have the potential to be exposed in textile processing facilities following dermal or inhalation routes of exposure, emphasizing the need to safer chemical selection as part of the formulation process. The ToxFMD Screened Chemistry<sup>TM</sup> Program has assessed hundreds of textile auxiliary formulations using a hazard screening and analytical testing paradigm designed to identify chemicals of concern in textile auxiliary formulations. ToxFMD requires disclosure of all intentionally added ingredients and residuals and impurities present at concentrations greater than 0.01% in a formulation. Under ToxFMD, polymeric and non-polymeric ingredients and screened residuals and impurities cannot be classified as high priority CMRs or PBTs. Additionally, formulations cannot contain chemicals above specific limits on the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Manufacturer’s Restricted Substances List (MRSL). High priority CMRs are defined as chemicals that are classified as GHS Category 1A (Known) or 1B (Presumed) for Cancer, Mutagenicity, and/or Reproductive Toxicity as defined in the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling (GHS). High priority Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic chemicals (PBTs) are defined as chemicals with the following attributes: persistent (half-life &gt; 60 days), bioaccumulative (BCF/BAF ≥ 1,000), and aquatically toxic (acute LC/EC50 &lt; 1 mg/L or acute NOEC/LOEC &lt; 1 mg/L, or GHS Category 1; chronic aquatic toxicity &lt;1 mg/L). Industry-wide adoption of the ToxFMD Screened Chemistry<sup>TM</sup> Program has resulted in hazard reduction throughout the textile auxiliary supply chain, and has contributed to eliminating multiple chemicals of concern, including ethylene glycol, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), copper (II) nitrate, and perfluorodecyl acrylate, among others.

Promoting safer chemical selection in textile auxiliaries: Success at reducing and eliminating CMRs and PBTs in the supply chain

256th National Meeting (2018)

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