To wonder why formaldehyde is not menioned on non-iron shirts' packaging

[belkastrelka]

Having just bought new school shirts for kids, I discovered that all non-iron, wrinkle-free etc. textile garments are dipped into formaldehyde-based resins to make fabrics crease-resistant.

To quote Wikipedia
"In view of its widespread use, toxicity, and volatility, formaldehyde poses a significant danger to human health. In 2011, the US National Toxicology Program described formaldehyde as "known to be a human carcinogen"."

It is probably old news for many, but I became enlightened only yesterday, and I am horrified that customers are kept in the dark and there is no mention at all about this "secret ingredient" on the labels/packaging, its quantities and potential health risks. Especially on children's clothing.

I always wash new clothes before putting them on, but as in case of school shirts they are intended to stay "non-iron", I understand the formaldehyde resin is not removed by washing.

Some retailers have introduced "kind to skin" range of school shirts, which effectively means clean from F, and hence requiring ironing. (kind of admitting that the others are not really kind to skin )

It does not appear to be regulated in the UK. The only official information I could find regulates the Health and Safety at factories
www.hse.gov.uk/textiles/fabric-finishes.htm

AIBU to be shocked by this discovery?

Yeah but there are a lot of things that can be classed as carcinogenic in high doses.

Sounds all very OTT. Sure there should always be alternatives but not worth fear mongering over

I agree that this should be stated.
and not say (like dc school shirts) that they are 100% cotton...

I wash everything before first wear!

Formaldehyde is found in pears, apples, vaccines. Humans exhale it with every breath. It's the dose that counts so nowt to worry about.

I suppose I better stop licking the kids' shirts then.

I dunno, I can't get worked up about trace amounts of chemicals, that's pretty much everything in the world really.

YABU to be shocked. It is not food, so is not regulated in the same way.

I have no idea what chemicals are used in making cotton fabric. I have never looked into it, but I doubt formaldehyde is the only chemical used. What are the dyes made of?

It's used in the production of all sorts of non-food items. YABU to be shocked that kiddiewinks might come into contact with it every day.

Everything is carcinogenic nowadays.

This is quite a helpful explanation:

propercloth.com/reference/formaldehyde-clothing/

Basically, the dose in shirts is so low as to not be harmful to 98% of the population (2% experience some form of allergic reaction). Airborne formaldehyde is a cancer risk, textile formaldehyde is not a cancer risk is the concentrations used in shirts.

It’s airborne particles from things like air fresheners you need to worry about. They pump out a cocktail of irritant, neurotoxic and carcinogenic chemicals, including formaldehyde and benzene.

Thank you, everyone, for commenting! I do feel better now, as my kids have been wearing these shirts since they started school.

HelpmeobiMN, thank you very much for the link. Interesting read indeed, although from the shirt makers' website, so not entirely unbiased. The do give link to the American Chemical Society who tested some clothes and came to a conclusion that it is safe. But, if you look into the exact wording, it transpires that some samples were exceeding the standards (and as it is not regulated, we never know if the garment we bought is exceeding or below the safe threshold).

"For its recent investigation, GAO had a total of 180 pieces of clothing and other textiles analyzed for formaldehyde. The formaldehyde levels found in almost all the samples were below the standards other nations have set, and most of the results came back as “nondetectable,” which is defined as concentrations lower than 20 ppm."

So I will try to steer clear of these ranges, where I have a choice.