Suspect and non-target screening of chemicals in clothing textiles by reversed-phase liquid chromatography/hybrid quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometry

Josefine Carlsson,Ulrika Nilsson,Jonas Eklund,Conny Östman,Francesco Iadaresta,Rozanna Avagyan

doi:10.1007/s00216-021-03766-x

Abstract

The global manufacturing of clothing is usually composed of multistep processes, which include a large number of chemicals. However, there is generally no information regarding the chemical content remaining in the finished clothes. Clothes in close and prolonged skin contact may thus be a significant source of daily human exposure to hazardous compounds depending on their ability to migrate from the textiles and be absorbed by the skin. In the present study, twenty-four imported garments on the Swedish market were investigated with respect to their content of organic compounds, using a screening workflow. Reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization/high-resolution mass spectrometry was used for both suspect and non-target screening. The most frequently detected compound was benzothiazole followed by quinoline. Nitroanilines with suspected mutagenic and possible skin sensitization properties, and quinoline, a carcinogenic compound, were among the compounds occurring at the highest concentrations. In some garments, the level of quinoline was estimated to be close to or higher than 50,000 ng/g, the limit set by the REACH regulation. Other detected compounds were acridine, benzotriazoles, benzothiazoles, phthalates, nitrophenols, and organophosphates. Several of the identified compounds have logP and molecular weight values enabling skin uptake. This pilot study indicates which chemicals and compound classes should be prioritized for future quantitative surveys and control of the chemical content in clothing as well as research on skin transfer, skin absorption, and systemic exposure. The results also show that the current control and prevention from chemicals in imported garments on the Swedish market is insufficient.Graphical abstract

Highlights

Over time, the textile industry has used large amounts of numerous chemicals throughout the production chain [1]
We present a suspect and non-target screening approach applied on twenty-four imported clothing garments on the Swedish market, characterized by different colors, origin, and materials
Non-target screening can be divided into two phases, an experimental and a data treatment part, both of which affect the final results

Summary

Introduction

The textile industry has used large amounts of numerous chemicals throughout the production chain [1]. UV stabilizers, such as benzotriazoles and benzothiazoles, are often detected in textile samples [2,3,4,5]. These chemicals are added to protect polymers against UV radiation [6] and prevent photofading as well as phototendering [7]. Other examples are aromatic amines, such as nitroanilines, of which some are used as fungicides to increase textile longevity [12], while those mostly detected in textiles are dye degradation products and/or dye impurities [13,14,15]

Methods

Results

Conclusion