Expert Opinions in General Toxicology

Expert opinions on the toxicological assessment of chemical compounds that are released from articles of every day use are focused on risk assessment of pollutants in clothes and other textiles, children´s toys, body care products, etc.

Especially pollutants in clothes can play an important role the total body burden with xenobiotics of critical toxicological relevance. In special data bases, some hundred basic chemical compounds are compiled as so-called "Textile Auxiliaries and Additives". A series of these compounds have to be considered as problematic not at least because their absorption into the human body can proceed via the skin, resulting in a significantly higher toxicological potency as compared to the potency of the same amount of the compound taken up via the gastrointestinal tract. Examples of such auxiliaries are formaldehyde and formaldehyde derivatives, organotin compounds (esp. dialkyltin compounds), biocides and pesticides such as permethrin, organophosphorus compounds ("organophosphates"), dyeing agents and antimony compounds.

Another area with potential hazards caused by pollutants emitted are children's toys made of wood or plastic materials. Especially various inorganic dye components such as cadmium or lead compounds, furthermore plasticizers, nickel compounds, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ("PAH"), as well as phenol and formaldehyde may be released from children´s toys.