Chemical footprint of textile and apparel products: an assessment of human and ecological toxicities based on USEtox model

Abstract

In the life cycle assessment framework, the comparison and assessment of chemical footprint (ChF) can be performed to identify the chemical categories with large toxic effect, including the initial inputs of chemical raw materials and the final emissions of chemical pollutants. In this study, the ChF methodology of textile and apparel products was demonstrated using the USEtox model with jeans production as a case study. Several chemical pollutants with large contribution to human and ecological toxicities were identified during the life cycle of the wet treatment process. The logarithmic plot and the cluster analysis indicate that dimethyl siloxane, reaction product with silica and 2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one in the warp dyeing phase are two major contributors to human and ecological toxicities respectively. In the weft bleaching phase, magnesium chloride has high toxicity to humans, and sulfuric acid and nonylphenol ethoxylate have high toxicity to ecological environment. Therefore, these pollutants must be given much attention. The ChF results of chemical materials show that antifoaming agent in the warp dyeing phase has high toxicity to humans. In the weft bleaching phase, peroxide stabilizer has high toxicity to humans, and wetting/penetrating and sequestering agents have high toxicity to ecological environment. These findings can provide a practical guidance for the effective reduction in the toxic impact of textile industrial chemicals on humans and ecological environment.