No biocide migration from leather: Study

A study by the independent Institute for Material Testing has confirmed an earlier report by the FILK Institute that biocides used in the preservation of leather intermediates do not migrate out of the finished leather articles, according to Lanxess, which commissioned it.

To represent a wide range of applications, samples of leather were take from automotive, shoe upper, garment and furniture applications. They were treated with the fungicides most commonly used to prevent the growth of mould in leather intermediates: 4-chloro-3-methylphenol (PCMP), orthophenylphenol (OPP) OIT (octylisothiazolinone (OIT) and TCMTB (2-(thiocyanomethylthio)benzothiazole (TCMTB).

The test investigated whether the four biocides migrated into a cotton fabric soaked with artificial sweat solution. All four achieved the expected results in all types of leather and no migration of biocide residues was detectable. Thus, Lanxess said, “there is no risk for end consumers when wearing or getting in contact with leather products”.