Oeko-Tex

The Oeko-Tex Standard 100 [10] was introduced in the beginning of the 1990s. It was developed by the Austrian Textile Research Institute (OTI) and the German Research Institute Hohenstein and is a product label based on test for harmful substances in leather (or textiles), and the primary target group is the textile and clothing industry. 

The Oeko-Tex label tests for and restricts a high number of chemicals in the product. It should be noted that chrome-tanned leather cannot receive the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certificate due to stringent demands on chromium. Since around 85-90% of all leather in the world is tanned with chromium, the certificate is only valid for a minor part of the leather production. 

Oeko-Tex 100 Eco-label website, see http //www.oeko-tex.com/oekotexlOO PUBLIC/index. asp cls=21. Accessed 15 July 2012... 

An eco-label specific to textiles was founded in 1993 by the Austrian Textile Research Institute, called the Oeko-Tex label. Oeko-Tex certificate is the most widely recognized textile environmental standard in the world (El-Nagar, 2012 Url-13). 

According to the Oeko-Tex criteria, textile ecology includes four sectors production ecology, human ecology, performance ecology and disposal ecology. 

In order to get certification according to OEKO-TEX Standard 100, aU components of a textile product have to conform to the required criteria without exception, meaning that in addition to the outer material also sewing threads, linings, prints, etc. as well as nontextile accessories such as buttons, zip fasteners, rivets, etc. have to comply with the requirements. The OEKO-TEX certificate is valid for a duration of 12 months. 

Sustainable Textile Production (STeP) is the new OEKO-TEX certification system. This new system replaced the previous certification of production sites according to OEKO-TEX Standard 1000 from July 2013. 

The OEKO-TEX Standard 100 plus is a product label. With this label, manufacturers certify to their end users that their products have been optimized for human ecology and also their production conditions are environmentally friendly. Products with this label are tested for harmful substances according to OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and produced at environmentally fiiendly production sites according to Sustainable Textile Production (STeP) (Url-15). 

Url-14 https //www.oeko-tex.com/en/manufacturers/test methods/test methods.xhtml, (date received 28.08.14.). 

Url-15 https //www.oekotex.com/en/manufacturers/concept/oeko tex standard 100plus/oeko tex standard 100plus.xhtml (date received 29.08.14.). 

Holistic approaches (sustainable labels) dealing with social and environmental issues. These labels are relatively new but have recently gained in popularity. The pertinent examples of sustainable labels applying to clothing and textiles are GOTs, Better Cotton Initiative or very recently the STeP standard proposed by OEKO-TEX . 

Single-attribute labels - one stage of the product s life cycle OEKO-TEX standard 100 OCS-Organic Content Standard BCI-The Better Cotton Initiative gSTM sustainable cotton program Fairtrade Standard for cotton CARE FAIR RUGMARK... 

Single-attribute labels that cover mainly one stage of a product s life cycle, usually raw material extraction or the product-use stage, for instance Organic Content Standard (OCS) or OEKO-TEX Standard 100. 

At the same time, efforts are being made to ensure high integrity of labels granted to various phases of product life cycle. Solutions such as the modular assessment system used for Oeko-Tex 100 (see Moore and Wentz, 2009) or the scope and transaction... 

The Oeko-Tex Association has proposed a modular system of certification. A product certification process according to OEKO-TEX Standard 100 has a modular structure textile products can be tested and certified at any production stage (including the manufacturing of accessories). Certificates can be issued for ... 

This modular principle generally avoids double testing and spreads the financial expense of certification across all production stages involved. The components of a finished product that have already been certified will be recognised in the framework of certification processes at subsequent processing stages upon the presentation of a valid certificate and a representative sample of materials and do not require retesting on the finished product (https //www.oeko-tex.com). 

OEKO-TEX standard 100 (chemically safe textiles) https //www. oeko-tex.com X X X Yes N/A... 

Sustainable Textile Production (STeP) https //step.oeko-tex. com/en/step/step home/home.html X X X No N/A... 

OEKO-TEX Standard lOOplus (the combination OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and STeP) https // www.oeko-tex.com Yes N/A... 

OEKO-TEX class Formaldehyde (mg/kg) Japanese LAW 112 Formaldehyde emission of volatiles (mg/m )... 

Under OEKO-TEX apparel is classified as class I (children s wear), class II (direct skin contact, e.g., underwear, sleepwear, sportswear), or class III (jackets, coats). For these classes only FRs approved by OEKO-TEX (white list) can be used. This list is available on the OEKO-TEX website (https //www.oeko-tex.com/en/ manufacturers/certified products/active chemical products/flame retardant prod-ucts/flame retardant products.html). Garments without direct skin contact (e.g., jackets or coats) belong to product class III. 

The PFOA and derivatives limit values have become much stricter since April 1, 2015, for OEKO-TEX , see Table 1.5. Also the limit value for PFOS is stricter (<1 pg/m, previously <1 pg/m ). 

OEKO-TEX class Limit values since April 2014... 

The current OEKO-TEX limit values for phthalates are presented in Table 1.7. 

---