No hazardous chemicals

The textile products we wear contain a range of chemical substances designed to facilitate dyeing, softening, resistance to shrinkage and creasing and water-repellence. Some constitute hazardous substances that would affect those wearing or producing such clothing, as well as the production facility and surrounding environment.

The main risk from those chemicals is in the degree of exposure and drainage occurring during production, rather than when related clothing is worn. Most of the concentrated and highly hazardous chemicals used during production flow into rivers and then oceans. They are ultimately ingested by aquatic organisms, from where they may end up in human food chains.

To prevent such invisible contamination, efforts to avoid the use of hazardous chemicals are being made.

Amid a growing push to use non-hazardous chemicals, one of the key hazardous chemical substances targeted for removal as a top priority is <PFC>, namely Perfluorocarbon. Its main application in a clothing context is as a coating agent for waterproofing or water repellence. PFC normally remains in nature after decomposing and is prone to bioaccumulate within the human body when ingested. In the long term, this may impact on our health.

In the wake of the PFOA Stewardship program, implemented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2006, eight major global fluorochemical manufacturers reached agreement and proceeded with disposal work. In 2019, PFO was designated as a substance to be abolished under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which saw international restrictions tightened even further.

Consequently, work to develop alternatives to <PFC> has been accelerated and spawned alternatives retaining both sustainability and water-repellence. These included <C6 fluorinated water repellent agent> and a <non-fluorine water repellent agent>, although the overall performance declined slightly.

As well as processing and finishing agents, research and development to improve performance in line with textile structures, is also underway. This includes a unique cross-sectional structure with a deep groove on the fibre and a downy hair-like surface feel; inspired by a lotus leaf for uneven structures　and akin to a layer of air on the textile surface.