Limitation of biocidal products (antimicrobial function)
Level: Core
Textiles treated with biocidal products may contain substances that are environmentally and health hazardous. With this requirement biocidal treated articles are avoided.
Details
- Type:
- Technical specification
- ID:
- 10021:3
- Group:
- All textiles
Criterion text
Textiles delivered under the contract shall not be treated with biocidal products1,2.
Exception
Textiles where biocidal function is specifically requested as a function such as ambulance clothing.
1Definition according to Article 3 in Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2012 concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products.
2Biocidal function includes, for example, odorless, antibacterial, and antimicrobial.
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:
- 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)
- In the tender, the supplier encloses a self-declaration that the requirement is fulfilled. The declaration shall be signed by a competent representative of the supplier. The declaration shall be supported with technical documentation validating that the textile, for example, is not labeled or covered by requirements for information on biocidal treatment in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 528/2012 concerning the making available on the market and use of biocidal products or a certificate from a subcontractor that no biocide has been added.
- 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: Nordic Swan Ecolabel, EU Ecolabel, GOTS.
Tag/label describing biocidal product
Take a sample of delivered products and check that there is no label that describes treatment with biocidal products. Examples of what a label can look like can be found in the Swedish Chemicals Agency's fact sheet "Articles treated with biocides ". If such labelling exists, the product does not fulfil the requirement.
If delivered products do not have a tag/label for treatment with biocidal product, request information from the supplier about any possible biocidal treatment of the products. The information may, for example, consist of product sheets, marketing materials or the like. If the information shows that the product is biocidal or marketed as biocidal, for example antibacterial or odourless, the product does not meet the requirement.
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
An article marketed as biocide-treated, for example antibacterial shall, according to the Biocides Regulation, be labeled. The information shall also be able to be provided if the supplier does not market the product as biocide-treated, according to Article 58 of the Biocides Regulation. The supplier of the product shall, upon request, be able to provide information on possible biocidal treatment within 45 days, even if the product is not marketed as a biocidal treated product to the consumer, according to the Biocides Regulation. It is thus possible to request the information from the supplier. Examples of what a label can look like can be found in the Swedish Chemicals Agency's fact sheet "Articles treated with biocides".
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
- 10021:3
- Version date
- 2021-05-25