Germany's VCI says TBT is not used in garments industry

10 January 2000 04:41  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (CNI)--Germany's chemical industry association, Verband der Chemischen Industrie (VCI), claims that none of its 11 chemical fibre producers are using tributyltin (TBT) as a catalyst, CNI learned Monday.

"Nor do any of the 50 manufacturers of chemical textile additives market TBT as an anti-bacterial additive," VCI added. "TBT has no role in the manufacture of garments as it has toxic qualities."

VCI pointed out that garments produced in Germany do have some anti-bacterial protection. "However, the producers of chemical textile additives are only using substances which have no impact on consumer health at all," VCI emphasised.

According to VCI, TBT is used in "very low quantities" in the coating of industrial textiles for tents or truck canvasses as biocidal protection.

Last (3 January) week, a German TV channel reported that laboratory tests of clothes made by US-owned sportswear company Nike and other manufacturers - and marketed in Germany, among other countries - revealed traces of TBT, dibutyltin and monobutyltin in two-thirds of samples checked.

At high concentrations in humans, tributyltin is believed to cause neurological problems, damage to the immune system and harm to the liver.

Meanwhile, CNI learned that in Hong Kong, Nike withdrew hundreds of yellow and black soccer shirts - the livery of Germany's Borussia Dortmund - from retailers' shelves over the 8-9 January weekend. People who had bought the shirts were advised not to wear them.

By: Stefan Baumgarten
+1 713 525 2653

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly