A proposal put to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) by Sweden and France in 2019 to restrict some skin sensitisers – with a decision expected to be presented to the EU commission shortly – is causing concern among some textile industry groups who say blanket restrictions on some dyes would have unintended consequences.
The Basel-based industry association ETAD (Ecological and Toxicological Association of Dyes and Organic Pigments Manufacturers), says the new proposals wrongly assume that all disperse dyes behave in the same way and create a straightforward correlation between skin sensitising properties of a pure substance and allergenic properties in a final product’.
