The European Commission will ban the use of NPEs in textile products from now on

The European Commission (EC) has issued a regulation banning the use of nonylphenol polyoxyethylene ethers (NPEs) in textile products sold in all EU member states.

According to the Official Journal of the European Union, the revised (REACH) regulations will take effect on February 2 this year (2016), and then companies will have five years to remove chemicals from their products and supply chains.

This means that starting from February 3, 2021, textile products on the EU market should no longer contain NPEs. It is reasonable to expect that textile articles or parts thereof at a concentration equal to or greater than 0.01% by weight can be cleaned in water during their normal life cycle.

The so-called “textile article” in its terminology refers to “any unfinished, semi-finished or finished product containing at least 80% by weight of textile fibers, or any part of any product containing at least 80% by weight. % of textile fibers such as clothing, accessories, interior textiles, fibres, yarns, fabrics and knitted fabrics”.

However, this restriction will not apply to second-hand textile items or textile products that do not use NPE and are produced entirely from recycled textiles.

The initiative began after EU member states unanimously agreed to ban chemicals last year (2015).

The widespread use of NPE in the textile industry was revealed by Greenpeace International’s report – Dirty Laundry 2: Hung Out to Dry in 2011 – which stated that two textile processing plants in mainland China supplying global ready-to-wear brands were found to be emitting toxic chemicals in their wastewater. .

Greenpeace also pointed out loopholes in the EU’s REACH chemical regulations. Although NPE is prohibited from being used in textile products within the EU, the EU does not ban the import of textile products containing NPE.

NPE is often used as a surfactant in textiles and can decompose to form toxic nonylphenol (NP). Greenpeace points out that nonylphenol is a persistent chemical interfering hormone that accumulates in the food chain and is dangerously toxic even at very low levels. The European Commission will ban the use of NPEs in textile products from 2021

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