METHODS OF QUALITY ASSURANCE FOR FORMALDEHYDE DETERMINATION FROM TEXTILE MATERIALS

Abstract

Formaldehyde (CH₂O) is a colorless, highly toxic, and flammable gas at room temperature. Exposure to formaldehyde can irritate the skin, throat, lungs, and eyes, and repeated exposure to formaldehyde can lead to cancer. Formaldehyde resin products used in the textile industry include printing inks, dyes and textile finishing products. These formaldehyde-based materials help bind dyes and pigments to fabrics, prevent colours from running, improve a fabric's resistance to wrinkles, ease clothing care and maintenance and prevent mildew. This study described two analytical methods for detecting formaldehyde in textile materials: high performance liquid chromatography and spectrophotometric. The textile materials containing formaldehyde were extracted in water at 40 degrees C, filtrated and complexed with a coloring reagent – Nash, that contains acetylacetone, acetic acid, ammonium acetate and water. The solutions were comparatively analyzed by spectrophotometry and liquid chromatography coupled with a multiwavelength detector (HPLC-MWD). The spectrophotometric method was validated for precise and reliable results, proving it fits the intented use. The method is linear from the limit of quantification of 4 mg/kg ppm up to 600 mg/kg levels of formaldehyde. This method is intended for formaldehyde analyses in textile samples with excellent recovery, good sample stability, accurate results and good sensibility.

Keywords

• formaldehyde
• method validation
• liquid chromatography
• spectrophotometry
• textiles.