Trace elements in skin-contact clothes and migration to artificial sweat: Risk assessment of human dermal exposure

Abstract

The concentrations of a considerable number of trace elements (Ag, Al, As, B, Ba, Be, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sm, Sn, Sr, Ti, Tl, V and Zn) were determined in various skin-contact clothes (T-shirts, blouses, socks, baby pajamas and bodies) from the Catalan (Spain) market. In addition, migration experiments with artificial acidic sweat were conducted in order to establish the migration rates of these elements. High levels of Zn (186-5749 mg/kg) were found in zinc pyrithione labeled T-shirts, while high concentrations of Sb and Cr were found in polyester and black polyamide fabrics, respectively. An environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) confirmed the presence of Ag and Ti particles and aggregates in several clothing items. The use of the ESEM complemented the results of the elemental analysis and migration experiments. Dermal exposure to trace elements was subsequently calculated, and the human health risks were assessed. Antimony showed the highest mean hazard quotient (HQ ¼ 0.4) for male and female adults wearing polyester clothes; for one of the examined items (polyester T-shirt) the HQ was even above the safety limit (HQ > 1). Exposure to Sb from polyester textile could mean potential health risks in subpopulation groups who frequently wear these clothes, and for long time periods. The migration experiments with artificial sweat showed to be essential for establishing the exposure to trace elements through cloth with direct contact with skin.In the market, there is a huge variety of clothes made with various materials (i.e. cotton, silk, wool polyester, viscose, spandex or polyamide). Moreover, chemical additives are also incorporated into textiles, mainly in the finishing process, to provide them with several properties. 1 Some of the chemicals present in clothes, such as formaldehyde, brominated and chlorinated flame retardants, nonylphenols, phthalates, perfluoroalkyl substances, nanoparticles, organotins and toxic elements, are of concern to the environment and human health. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] In textile products, metals are used as metal complex dyes (cobalt, copper, chromium, lead), pigments, mordant (chromium), catalyzers in synthetic fabrics manufacture (Sb 2 O 3 ), synergists of flame retardants (Sb 2 O 3 ) and antimicrobials (silver and titanium nanoparticles and zinc pyrithione (ZnPT)), among other uses. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16] The high amount and variety of chemicals contained and added to the fabrics can mean a potential health risk, including skin alterations 17-21 (i.e. dermatitis, irritation, allergy and skin micro-flora reduction, among others). It is well known that some metals, such as cobalt, chromium, copper and nickel, are skin sensitizers, 22-24 while other trace elements (e.g. arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead and antimony) are highly toxic, some of them being carcinogenic. 25 Moreover, others

Clothing-Mediated Exposures to Chemicals and Particles

“…Chemicals that have been identified on newly purchased clothing include trace elements such as heavy metals; − residual aromatic amines associated with certain azo dyes; , quinoline and substituted quinolines; − alkylphenol ethoxylates, alkylphenols, bisphenols, and benzophenones; , benzothiazoles and benzotriazoles, ,− dioxins and furans; PCBs; , organo-phosphorus flame retardants and pesticides; halogenated flame retardants; ,, fluorinated surfactants; − phthalate ester plasticizers; , glycol solvents; formaldehyde from antiwrinkle resins; ,,, and common petrochemical fuel constituents such as linear and branched C 10 –C 16 alkanes, C 3 alkylbenzenes, and straight-chained C 7 –C 10 aldehydes …”

“…130 Models of sweat-mediated transfer of chemicals from clothing also use a transfer efficiency approach. The leachable fraction is derived from experiments using artificial sweat to extract substances such as dyes 17,43 and trace elements 57 (see also Section 3.1.3). Often, the extracted fraction is assumed to be entirely transferred to the skin.…”

Occurrence of and exposure to benzothiazoles and benzotriazoles from textiles and infant clothing

“…Second, the concentrations measured in textiles represent only the solvent-extractable fraction of the chemicals from textiles, which may not represent the actual amount present in textiles. The actual concentration may be higher than what was extracted by organic solvents, while the bioavailable fraction may be lower (Rezic and Steffan, 2007;Rovira et al, 2017). Third, the exposure assessment in this study was based on certain assumptions regarding dermal penetration rate and body surface area, and selected worst-case scenarios for exposure were employed.…”

“…In a recent report alerting consumers to dangerous chemicals in products from the European Union, 572 chemical-related notifications involving toys (37%), jewelry (20%) and clothing and textiles (13%) were identified (Chemical Watch, 2016). Other recent studies reported the occurrence of benzothiazoles (BTHs) and benzotriazoles (BTRs) in textiles from Sweden (Avagyan et al, 2015) and toxic metals in textiles from Spain (Rovira et al, 2015;Sungur and Gülmez, 2015;Rovira et al, 2017). A report by Greenpeace showed the presence of a wide range of endocrine disrupting chemicals in textiles, with nonylphenol ethoxylate concentrations as high as 17,000 μg/g (Greenpeace, 2014).…”

Ecological risk assessment and health safety speculation during color fastness properties enhancement of natural dyed cotton through metallic mordants

“…These metals are prone to migrate onto the human skin under sweating or wet condition. According to previous investigation, depending on the migration rate of trace elements, several skin and other diseases can be occurred which were studied by dermal exposure through the skin-contact clothes (Rovira et al 2016;Von Goetz et al 2013;Avagyan et al 2015;Leme et al 2014;Sengupta and Behera 2014;Clausen et al 2016). Averagely, the detected trace metals are typically migrated ranging 0.6-60% (Tuzen et al 2008).…”