Are textile formaldehyde regulations reasonable? Experiences from the Finnish textile and clothing industries

The formaldehyde content of textiles has been legally limited in only a few countries. Finland followed Japan in 1987 and introduced strict limits for textile formaldehyde content. The comprehensive registration system of occupational diseases in Finland has enabled the study of the incidence of occupational diseases caused by formaldehyde among workers in the textile and clothing industries. Diagnosed occupational diseases caused by formaldehyde were relatively rare in 1975-1993, and no decrease in the incidence of occupational formaldehyde diseases were observed after regulations were implemented at the end of 1987. Limitations on textile formaldehyde content are needed, however, because textiles with formaldehyde content of 435-855 micrograms/g can cause irritating airborne concentrations during pressing in clothing industry. With modern low formaldehyde cross-linking agents it is possible to achieve textile formaldehyde content less than 100 micrograms/g, as determined by the Japanese acetylacetone method. When limits for textile formaldehyde content are considered, it is also important to define the test method because the existing procedures produce different results.