Restricted substance chemicals

PCP (Pentachlorophenol)

PCP (pentachlorophenol), which is a preserving agent, has for the past twenty years not been used in Europe in leather production. EU Council directive 76/769/EEC and its amendments on the marketing and use of dangerous substances and preparations prescribe a limit value of 1000 mg/kg.

However, many European countries have totally prohibited the use of PCP. Our leather is PCP free.

AZO dyes

AZO dyestuff is a colouring agent. There are 24 AZO dyestuffs that may release carcinogenic Acryl amines (aromatic amines) and these are prohibited. This means that not all AZO dyes in general are prohibited. According to EU Council directive 76/769/EEC and its amendments 2002/61/EC and 2004/21/EC on the marketing and use of dangerous substances and preparations the contamination limit value is 30 mg/kg. Incidentally, the textile industry uses AZO dyes in much larger quantities than the leather industry.

Many European countries have prohibited the use of AZO dyes (both prohibited and allowed ones). Our leather is free of the prohibited AZO dyes.

Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde (not to be confused with glutaraldehyde) is an organic compound which is widely used in many industries. It is used as an auxiliary tanning agent and is also used as a cross-linking agent for casein-based finishes. Formaldehyde is specifically used in the production of wet-white (for example chrome-free leather), to allow stabilisation prior to splitting or shaving and in the production of syntans.

Within Europe there is no general legislation that limits the presence of formaldehyde in leather. Testing of formaldehyde in consumer products is not straightforward. Even within a single material, such as leather, there are several testing methods that can be applied.

There are some individual countries that have restrictions on its presence in consumer products.

Hexavalent chromium (Cr VI)

Hexavalent chromium (not to be confused with trivalent chromium) may be formed when trivalent chromium oxidises under extreme conditions. If manufactured in a responsible way using appropriate process control and using chemicals from reputable sources then the change of chrome VI detected is negligible. Chromium VI is no longer used in the tanning of leathers. If you use for example EN ISO 17075:2007 to detect chrome VI, the detection limit is 3 mg/kg (BLC). Read about trivalent chromium here. Our leather does not contain hexavalent chromium (Cr VI).