Textile manufacturers can now benefit from a new online tool designed to assess risk and chemical hazard in textiles.
The program, called Textile Chemical Information Profile or T-ChIP, launched last week with the goal of helping textile and textile chemical manufacturers meet sustainability reporting requirements without disclosing proprietary formulas.
Manufacturers can submit information regarding their commercial chemical textile products confidentially through the www.T-ChIPTicket.com website. T-ChIP then accesses the most current human and environmental data, including toxicological information, and conducts a verifiable, ingredient-level hazard and risk assessment. Manufacturers then receive a summary of the hazard/risk profile which can be used to “manage chemicals responsibility, communicate with brands and retailers, and respond to the industry’s mandate for more sustainable, greener textile chemistry,” according to a statement.
As brands and retailers increasingly look to become sustainable, more demands have been made of manufacturers to provide ingredient-level hazard assessments for products that could include finishing agents, lubricants, detergents, dyes and pigments, for example. T-ChIP allows manufacturers to submit these products for evaluation without giving up trade secrets. The program evaluates any potential hazards based on all relevant Restricted Substances Lists (RSLs), Substances of Very High Concern lists (SVHC), any international regulations, and the latest toxicological knowledge.
In terms of assessing risk, manufacturers additionally provide information about operating procedures in areas like water, air, waste treatment, materials handling and employee training, and T-ChIP benchmarks these procedures against industry standards practices to determine the manufacturer’s risk. Both the hazard and risk assessment are considered together when gauging the likelihood that the chemical compound could pose a risk when used as intended.
The T-ChIP program is in line with standards endorsed by the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), Apparel and Footwear International RSL Management (AFIRM) and the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA).