Fashion
AAFA writes to New York authorities on issue of PFAS in apparel laws
In its proposed PFAS restriction levels, the department suggested the introduction of limits as low as 25 parts per billion across ten specific PFAS substances for all apparel products and product components.
“This proposed restriction is not only inordinately expensive, given the number of product components in apparel products and the expense to do the additional tests across each analyte, but is also inconsistent with other state laws,” Chelsea Murtha, AAFA senior director for sustainability, wrote in the letter.
US trade body AAFA recently wrote to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation expressing concern over the PFAS analyte restrictions at the proposed levels and urging the latter to clarify that the testing thresholds don’t apply to products made with recycled materials.
It advocated for explicit exemption from PFAS regulation for items made with at least 50 per cent recycled content.
AAFA suggested that to promote a shared regulatory landscape across the country and a commonsense approach to managing chemical exposure, the department should mirror California and adopt only its proposed Total Organic Fluorine 50 ppm limit.
“We further note that, per a recent Notre Dame study, that a total organic fluorine result of less than 100 parts per million (ppm) indicates that PFAS were not intentionally added, which is understood implicitly in California’s current 100 ppm limit,” the letter said.
Testing at the proposed specific analyte levels will create tremendous strain on the department’s resources, as well as on the manufacturers who will be responsible for testing at a granular level across everything from zipper to buttons to screen prints, AAFA observed.
A TOF-only approach—a method that measures the total amount of organically bound fluorine, or TOF, in a sample—to limiting potential PFAS exposures would be preferable given the current regulatory landscape and the overall likelihood of PFAS exposure, AAFA wrote.
Such low concentrations of specific PFAS analytes, as proposed by the department, pose a low chance of exposure and may be present in a product in trace amounts due to processes or contamination outside of the responsible manufacturer’s control, it noted.
Companies should have the capacity to rebut the presumption of intentionally added PFAS for exceeding the TOF limit posed by the department, it said.
In keeping with the department’s stated goal of promoting a circular economy through cutting down on waste sent to landfills and incinerators by 85 per cent before 2050, AAFA strongly advocated for the explicit exemption from PFAS regulation for products made with at least 50 per cent recycled content.
According to the Apparel and Footwear International RSL Management (AFIRM) Group’s consultation comments on a universal PFAS restriction in the EU, “there is currently no economically viable way for sorters/recyclers to know whether, and in what quantity, an incoming product contains PFAS, and, consequently, it is not possible to sort PFAS-containing products away from the recycling stream.”
A recycled content exemption is absolutely necessary to enable the industry’s transition to more sustainable and circular sourcing and production, AAFA added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
The package establishes a modern framework for both sides, enabling frictionless access to a market of 460 million consumers in key sectors, delivering economic benefits to both parties.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Swiss President Guy Parmelin yesterday signed a broad package of agreements aimed at deepening and expanding EU-Switzerland ties.
By aligning standards and rules in closely integrated areas, it will provide legal certainty, simplify trade in goods like medical devices and food products, and ease cross-border supply for businesses on both sides.
By aligning standards and rules in closely integrated areas, it will provide legal certainty, simplify trade in goods like medical devices and food products, and ease cross-border supply for businesses on both sides of the border.
Additionally, it will ensure more consistent rules for individuals who live, work or study across the EU-Swiss border. Switzerland will contribute to the development of legislation in the areas covered by the package and will have the opportunity to influence these rules as they are being designed.
“By modernising and deepening our ties across key sectors, from trade and transport to health and energy—we are strengthening legal certainty, fostering innovation and creating new opportunities for our citizens and businesses,” von der Leyen said in a release from the Commission.
The package includes updates to four already existing agreements, which already give Switzerland access to the EU internal market, regarding air transport, land transport, the free movement of persons and mutual recognition of conformity assessment.
New agreements on food safety, electricity, health and Switzerland’s participation in the EU Agency for the Space Programme were signed. A new agreement introduced a permanent and fair financial contribution by Switzerland to economic and social cohesion within the EU.
Apart from a protocol on parliamentary cooperation, the package includes also a joint declaration on the establishment of a high-level dialogue on the broad bilateral package.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Following earlier increases in purified terephthalic acid (PTA), melt and PSF, Indian producers have now raised PFY prices. POY, FDY and PTY prices have been increased by ****;* per kg across all deniers and lustres with effect from March *, reflecting rapid cost pass-through amid heightened volatility in crude-linked value chains, according to the market sources.
In the previous weekly revision effective February **, ****, PTA was increased by ****;*.** per kg to ****;**.** per kg, while monoethylene glycol (MEG) was retained at ****;**.** per kg. Polyester melt prices were raised by ****;*.** per kg to ****;**.** per kg. Downstream PSF prices were also revised upward by ****;*.** per kg from March *.
European Commission, Switzerland sign broad package of agreements
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