The washout effect during laundry on benzothiazole, benzotriazole, quinoline, and their derivatives in clothing textiles

Abstract

In two previous papers, the authors have shown that benzothiazole, benzotriazole, quinoline, and several of their derivatives are widespread in clothing textile articles. A number of these compounds exhibit allergenic and irritating properties and, due to their octanol-water partition coefficient, are prone to be absorbed by the skin. Moreover, they are slightly soluble in water, which could make washing of clothes a route of emission into the environment. In the present study, the washout effect of benzothiazole, benzotriazole, quinoline, and some of their derivatives has been investigated. Twenty-seven textile samples were analyzed before, as well as after five and ten times of washing. The most abundant analyte was found to be benzothiazole, which was detected in 85 % of the samples with an average concentration of 0.53 μg/g (median 0.44 μg/g), followed by quinoline, detected in 81 % of the samples with an average concentration of 2.42 μg/g (median 0.21 μg/g). The average decrease in concentration for benzothiazoles was 50 % after ten times washing, while it was around 20 % for quinolines. The average emission to household wastewater of benzothiazoles and quinolines during one washing (5 kg of clothes made from polyester materials) was calculated to 0.5 and 0.24 g, respectively. These results strongly indicate that laundering of clothing textiles can be an important source of release of these compounds to household wastewater and in the end to aquatic environments. It also demonstrates a potential source of human exposure to these chemicals since considerable amounts of the compounds remain in the clothes even after ten times of washing.

Chemicals from textiles to skin: an in vitro permeation study of benzothiazole

“…The presence of BT in textiles has also been confirmed by other researchers (Liu 2017 ). We have also shown that the concentration of BT decreased in the fabrics when washed, demonstrating a mobility of this chemical from the fabrics (Luongo et al 2016a ). Added together, these results point out a need of appropriate in vitro studies to investigate the release of BT from textile materials and determine if it migrates to, is absorbed by, and/or permeate through the skin.…”

“…The LC/MS/MS instrument consisted of an Agilent high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system with a 1260 binary pump, a 1100 degasser, and a 1100 autosampler (Wilmington, DE, USA) coupled to an API QTrap™ triple quadrupole mass spectrometer (PE Sciex, Toronto, ON, Canada) equipped with a TurboIon® electrospray interface operating in positive ion mode. The LC/MS/MS method has been described previously (Luongo et al, 2016a , b ). Briefly, the chromatographic separation was performed using an ACE 3 C8 microbore column (l = 50 mm, i.d.…”

“…BT can be considered as a skin allergen since a positive dermatitis reaction occurred in 17 of 43 human subjects treated topically (Bogert 1932 ). In previous works, we have shown that a number of potentially hazardous chemicals, among these BT and its derivatives, are frequently present in common textile materials (Luongo G 2014 , Avagyan R 2015 , Luongo et al, 2016a , b , Avagyan R 2013 ). The presence of BT in textiles has also been confirmed by other researchers (Liu 2017 ).…”

Clothing-Mediated Exposures to Chemicals and Particles

“…One group of studies reported that TiO 2 and ZnO nanoparticles do not penetrate deeply into the skin. 192 To the contrary, there is evidence of the increase of the 68 Zn isotope in the blood of a healthy adult after exposure to 68 ZnO nanoparticles in a sunscreen formulation. 193 One study reported that healthy skin is a more effective barrier for silver nanoparticles than damaged skin.…”

“…121 Such Meinke et al17 extracted fluorescent dyes from a polyester/cotton blend shirt using a sweat simulant and compared the predicted exposure (based on 100% transfer) to that observed in volunteers wearing the shirt during 30 minutes of exercise or for 12 hours of normal activity. In chemical removal during laundering,31,68,92,139 the air-gap between fabric and skin, laundering frequency, and the history of the clothing items prior to wear. A key advantage of dynamic mechanistic models is that they can predict how clothing accumulates chemicals under nonequilibrium conditions.…”