[Migration of chemical substances out of polyamide textile materials]

A sanitary-chemical study on three kinds textile materials with different percentage content of polyamide silk (PAS) was carried out. Migration of chemicals was studied - low molecular compounds of caprolactam (LMC) and triethanolamine in water extracts of the patterns tested. Thin layer chromatographic and spectrophotocalorimetric methods were employed. The summed up content of LMC of caprolactam was established in the first extracts of 5.0 to 7.0 mg/l for the various kinds of cloth, their proper separation in monomers, dimers, trimers, etc. oligomers being attained by the thin layer chromatographic investigation. Monomer content in the first extracts reaches to 1.15 mg/l, decreasing in the following ones to complete disappearing. At the same time dimers, trimers, etc. oligomers content of caprolactam progressively increases. The presence of triethanolamine and optical bleachers is established in the extracts investigated. The attention of the producers is drawn to a stronger control, still under production conditions, for washing out the residual quantities of non-polymerized oligomers and other chemicals of synthetic polyamide materials, aiming at ensuring harmless and biologically inert clothes.