Background: Textile chemicals may constitute a hazardous exposure and lead to skin sensitization or other health problems. Children, due to their thinner, less developed skin, are more susceptible to this exposure. Objectives: To investigate the occurrence and levels of 50 textile chemicals in childrens skin-close clothing. Further, to investigate the washout effect of these textile chemicals and their tendencies to migrate from the textile fibres into artificial sweat. Methods: Screening of 60 children's clothes purchased on the Swedish retail market was performed using coupled automated thermal desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (ATD-GC/MS). Results: Among the most frequently occurring chemicals were non-regulated quinolines, halogenated arylamines, phthalates, and nitrobenzenes. The highest concentrations were found for benzyl benzoate, 1400 mu g/g, and 2-bromo-4,6-dinitroaniline, 300 mu g/g. The highest number and levels of chemicals were detected in garments made of 100% polyester, while the fewest and lowest levels were determined in light-coloured cotton. Laundry experiments revealed that cotton garments had the greatest washout effect, whereas most of the chemical content remained in 100% polyester garments even after 10 laundry cycles. Conclusions: Results indicate a lower exposure from the investigated cotton garments, especially after laundry. On the other hand, cotton exhibited threefold greater chemical migration into artificial sweat than polyester. The strong dependence on fibre material is important to consider when estimating the bioaccessible chemical exposure from garments and related health risks.

The global production of textiles involves large amounts of health-hazardous chemicals, constituting possible health risks since residues usually remain in the finished garments. An analytical method based on automated thermal desorption (ATD) coupled online to GC/MS for screening of several classes of toxic chemicals in synthetic garments was recently published by us. In the present study, the ATD-GC/MS methodology is further extended to cotton and cotton blend materials. 

Different textile materials with a high content of cotton were found to exhibit large variations in adsorption strength for many chemicals frequently detected in textiles. This was shown to influence the thermal desorption efficiency strongly in ATD-GC/MS. By using absolute response factors from appropriate internal standards spiked directly onto the textile samples, the effects of these differences could be minimized. In this way, accurate quantification was made possible regardless of textile composition, and quantification of native textile chemicals in garments made with the ATD-GC/MS method agreed well with an offline method based on solvent extraction and GC/MS analysis.

The ATD-GC/MS method has now been shown to be applicable for quantitative screening of around 75% of [UN1] [TÅ2] all the textiles on the retail market. The simplified quantification method makes it suitable for screening many samples. For all textile chemicals and fibre materials investigated, the method limits of detection, using only 20 mg of textile, is at least 100 times lower than the current EU regulation for quinoline and several toxic arylamines.

As one of the top global industries, textile manufacturing utilizes several thousands of industrial chemicals, many of which end up in the finished garments. These residues constitute a widespread, possibly hazardous, exposure of the general population, yet the long-term health effects remain largely unknown. Skin allergy - a life-long, incurable condition – is one health effect of repeated skin exposure to one or several chemicals. Among the Western population, textile allergy is estimated to have a prevalence of around 1%.

Fast-fashion trends make the chemical content in everyday textile apparel hard to predict, as non-regulated chemicals are rapidly introduced into production. Only a tiny fraction of the used chemicals is hitherto regulated, and there is a lack of oversight regarding the content in everyday garments. A recently introduced EU legislation concerning handling textile waste motivates the development of alternative recycling methods for worn-out textile apparel. Upcycling methods are also important to reduce the environmental burden from incineration and landfilling.

This thesis focuses on developing analytical tools for the quantitative chemical screening of textiles. A novel, fully automated analytical methodology based on thermal desorption - gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (ATD-GC/MS) was developed for polyester, synthetic polyester blends, and cotton, constituting at least 75% of the retail market. The method is especially suitable for detecting semi-volatile compounds capable of skin permeation. Recently, the method was proposed for evaluation as a potential EU standard. Ultimately, the method could help ensure regulatory compliance within the textile industry. 

In addition, a high-resolution mass spectrometry workflow was developed to investigate the fate of hazardous substances during the upcycling of polycotton waste into cellulose nanocrystals. Most hazardous textile chemicals were found to remain in the polyester, while the upcycled product contained much less contaminants. Chemical release into waste streams is correlated with solubility under acidic conditions, highlighting target compounds for removal during upscaling.

Together, the developed methods contribute to a robust analytical toolbox with the potential to improve chemical oversight in textiles, support regulatory expansion, and promote safer, more sustainable fashion.

The objective of the present study was to investigate some commonly detected halogenated textile pollutants for their bioavailability and hazardous properties. Release into artificial sweat and skin absorption in vitro were examined as well as mutagenic effects by Ames test, and skin-sensitizing properties from a peptide reactivity assay combined with a cell test.

All investigated compounds were shown to migrate from the textile into sweat and be absorbed by the skin, although to a different extent. The experimental values for migration were found to be up to 390 times higher compared to literature values. Two of the studied compounds, 2,5-dinitrochlorobenzene and 3,5-dinitrobromobenzene, both exhibited mutagenic effects in the Ames test, while both 2,5-dinitrochlorobenzene and 2,6-dichlorobenzene-1,4-diamine were classified as skin sensitizers. The allergenic reactivity of the latter was found to be due to an oxidized transformation product.

Risks for the induction of skin allergy and other non-carcinogenic effects from dermal exposure to the individual compounds were found low, even when considering clothing with the highest reported levels. However, the complex mixtures of chemicals often present in garments may still constitute a health risk, especially when considering the many hours of daily exposure. It is important to further study the toxicity of other frequently occurring chemicals as well as the synergistic effects of chemicals that co-occur in clothing.

The environmental impact is a strong incentive for the development of upcycling processes for textile waste. However, toxic chemicals may occur in both brand-new textiles and post-consumer garments, and the chemical transfer in such routes is important to investigate. The present study applied non-target screening and quantification with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry to follow the fate of hazardous chemicals from post-consumer polycotton garments to a new material, cellulose nanocrystals, in a chemical upcycling utilizing strongly acidic conditions. The majority of hazardous chemicals detected within the process were found to be transferred to a residual of polyester material and not to the enriched cellulose. However, phthalates were found to be mainly attached to the cellulose nanocrystals. The detected total concentration, in this case, was below 5 μg/g, at least 200 times lower than the limit set by the European Union. This indicates the importance of monitoring and controlling the phthalate content in the starting material of the process, i.e., the post-consumer garments. The chemical release into the process waste effluent could be estimated based on water solubility data for chemicals under the applied conditions. Three compounds, the water-repellent substance perfluorooctanesulfonic acid and the dyes Crystal Violet and Victoria Pure Blue, were almost entirely transferred into the process waste effluent. Although the levels detected were very low in the present pilot process, their presence eventually indicates the need for wastewater purification at further upscaling, depending on the exposure and dose in relation to toxicological relevant thresholds.

The global production of textiles utilizes numerous large-volume chemicals that may remain to some extent in the finished garments. Arylamines, quinolines, and halogenated nitrobenzene compounds are possible mutagens, carcinogens and/or skin sensitizers. For prevention, control of clothing and other textiles must be improved, especially those imported from countries without regulations of textile chemicals. An automated analytical methodology with on-line extraction, separation, and detection would largely simplify screening surveys of hazardous chemicals in textiles. Automated thermal desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (ATD-GC/MS) was developed and evaluated as a solvent-free, direct chemical analysis for screening of textiles. It requires a minimum of sample handling with a total run time of 38 min including sample desorption, chromatographic separation, and mass spectrometric detection. For most of the studied compounds, method quantification limit (MQL) was below 5 mu g/g for 5 mg of textile sample, which is sufficiently low for screening and control of quinoline and arylamines regulated by EU. Several chemicals were detected and quantified when the ATD-GC/MS method was applied in a limited pilot screening of synthetic fiber garments. A number of arylamines were detected, where some of the halogenated dinitroanilines were found in concentrations up to 300 mu g/g. This is ten times higher than the concentration limit for similar arylamines listed by the EU REACH regulation. Other chemicals detected in the investigated textiles were several quinolines, benzothiazole, naphthalene, and 3,5-dinitrobromobenzene. Based on the present results, we suggest ATD-GC/MS as a screening method for the control of harmful chemicals in clothing garments and other textiles.

Background: Azobenzene disperse dyes (azo DDs) are well-known as textile allergens, but the knowledge of their occurrence in garments is low. The numerous azo DDs and dye components found in textiles constitute a potential health risk, but only seven azo DDs are included in the European baseline patch test series (EBS).

Objectives: To investigate non-regulated azo DDs and dye components in synthetic garments on the Swedish market.

Methods: High-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and computerized data mining.

Results: Sixty-two azo DDs were detected, with Disperse Red 167:1 occurring in 67%, and 14 other DDs each found in >20% of the garments. Notably, the EBS dyes were less common, three even not detected, while arylamines were frequently detected and exceeded 1 mg/g in several garments. Also, halogenated dinitrobenzenes were identified in 25% of the textiles.

Conclusion: Azo DDs and dye components, in complex compositions and with large variations, occurred frequently in the synthetic garments. The arylamines were shown to occur at much higher levels compared to the azo DDs, suggesting the former constitute a potentially higher health risk. The role of arylamines and halogenated dinitrobenzenes in textile allergy has to be further investigated.