ISA proactive with bisphenol reduction
15/08/2023
In 2018, chemicals body REACH added bisphenols to the candidate list for Substances of Very High Concern (SVHC) for leather/leather products produced/entering in the EU, but at time there was no common approved standard for determination of content of bisphenols in leather, which ISA said is an indication nobody was prepared for the legislation. The lab standard was approved in July 2023.
It pointed out bisphenols are used to make hard plastic items, and in the leather industry, they are mainly found in the retanning syntans, lending attributes to the leather, such as the round feel, the cleanliness or the whiteness of the leather.
While it is still unclear, ISA believes the decision will be that leather can contain a max 10 ppm of bisphenols, the test detection limit – ie it will be banned. However, leather might be allowed to contain max 500 ppm of bisphenols until 2030 – by which time the tanning world should have found a sustainable solution.
The group said: “Many people are waiting for a decision so that they can act accordingly and start developing chemicals and change formulations to get to the point where they again will be compliant after the exemption. But not ISA. We will not wait for a conclusion knowing ultimately changes for the better need to be made. This is an opportunity to reduce chemical loading and improve our environmental footprint.
“Before 2020, we formed a team to see how we could reduce bisphenols. There are certain colours (mainly white and very light pastel tones) where we are working towards consistently getting below 10 ppm. But we are already far below the temporary restriction of 500 ppm and we can guarantee 100% of ISA produced leather will be compliant with the restrictions we are expecting to go into effect in 2024.”
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