Chrome VI cannot be part of “cheap and easy” chemical test
14/10/2015
Speaking at the 2015 Planet Textiles conference in Shanghai on October 14, VF’s global vice-president for responsible sourcing, Sean Cady, said his company had reached the conclusion that, after 15 years, it would be difficult to say the industry has been successful in using restricted substance lists to keep potentially hazardous chemicals out the supply chain.
To be able to engage better with its supply chain partners, he said VF had worked out a way to help them “make better choices” about the chemicals they use in production. “It has to be simple, scaleable and cost-effective,” he explained. “We want manufacturers to be able to screen the chemicals they are using simply by using a testing strip like the ones everyone used in high school to measure the pH of chemicals, with the strip turning green if the chemicals are good to use and turning red if there is any restricted substance in there.”
It has already rolled the idea out in ten countries where it has factories of its own or manufacturing partners and will continue to extend its use. It makes it possible for companies to screen for more than 400 substances in one screening for a cost of less than $50.
Later, however, Mr Cady told World Leather that the idea, called CHEM-IQ, will not help Timberland suppliers check for chromium VI in leather. He said: “The complexity is all in the back of the strip and it is working for thousands of chemicals. In 2014, we used it to test 2,300 unique chemicals. Unfortunately, though, chrome and other metals are just too difficult.”
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