Formaldehyde
Level: Core. Also available as Advanced
Formaldehyde has health-hazardous properties such as toxic, sensitizing, can cause genetic defects and can cause cancer. The requirement limits the content of formaldehyde emitted from textiles.
Details
- Type:
- Technical specification
- ID:
- 10019:4
- Group:
- All textiles
- Swedish:
Criterion text
The content of of free or (partly) hydrolysed formaldehyde (CAS 50-00-0) shall not exceed 75 ppm (75 mg/kg) in the textiles delivered under the contract.
Verification
The supplier shall, upon request, be able to present any of for example the following:
- Valid license for any of for example the following labels:
- Ökotex Standard 100 (product class I, II) 2021-2023
- Nordic Swan Ecolabel of Textile, hides/skins and leather Version 5
- EU Ecolabel for textile products 2014/350/EU
- GOTS version 6.0 (2020) or version 7.0 (2023)
- bluesign APPROVED – BSSL (bluesign system substance list, usage range A,B), version 13 or 14
- Analysis report from an accredited laboratory with measured levels of formaldehyde that meet the limit value in the requirement. The analysis can be performed in accordance with Standard EN ISO-14184-1 or equivalent.
- The supplier’s self-declaration including technical documentation of compliance verified by an accredited verification body, accredited for the task in accordance with ISO/IEC 17029 or equivalent standard.
Proposed follow-up
Labelling
If the requirement has been verified with a label, check that there is a valid license for the product in question. This can be checked on each website: Ökotex, Nordic Swan Ecolabel, EU Ecolabel, GOTS
If the requirement has been verified with bluesign a valid certificate can be requested from the supplier. The Supplier can receive a certrificate from its “bluesign system partner” in the supply chain. bluesign APPROVED covers the different textiles. If bluesign APPROVED is used as verification a certificate for each ingoing textile in the product is needed.
Analysis report
If the requirement has been verified with analysis reports, perform spot-checks on the analysis reports and check that the values are below the requirement limit value for formaldehyde. Also check that the analyses were performed by an accredited laboratory.
Self-declaration verified by an accredited verification body
If a verified self-declaration is used to prove that the requirement is fulfilled, request the supplier’s self-declaration, including documentation showing that the requirement is met. The self-declaration shall be verified by a verification body accredited for the task in accordance with ISO / IEC 17029 or equivalent standard.
Information about the criterion
There are currently a limited number of accredited verification bodies according to ISO / IEC 17029 (Conformity assessment - General principles and requirements for validation and verification bodies), as it is a relatively new standard. However, this may change, especially if the demand for verifying compliance in this way increases. This possibility is therefore included in the list of possible verifications. More information about the standard is available at www.swedac.se.
Environmental goals
Versions history
The version date indicates when the sustainability criterion was created or last updated. Last reviewed dated tells when we last checked that the sustainability criterion still is relevant.
- Current ID
- 10019:4
- Version date
- 2021-11-10