Heavy metals in textile dyestuffs, content determination and toxicity

Toxicity and harmful influence of heavy metals in textile finishing processes is investigated. The traces of copper and iron are eliminated from the systems for optical brightening, in order to prevent their influence on peroxide catalytic degradation and, through it, fibre damages. Some other heavy metals, including copper, are present in metal-complex dyes in small quantities only, It is of most importance that they are linked onto the fibre in such a way as to make them harmless. Bath exhaustion should be almost 100%, while the dyestuff on the fibre should not be detached either by sweat or in the course of use and care of the product. The paper presents maximum allowable concentrations of heavy metals on textiles according to the Oko-Tex standard, as well as some analytical methods of their determination.