Cotton material and quality of children's clothing(I)
In fact, some brands that advertise the use of "Better Cotton" actually have many quality problems. For example, H&M, which issued the statement of "discontinuing Xinjiang cotton", was recalled 3 times due to substandard products in the quality inspection of children's clothing in Jiangsu Province in the second quarter of 2019: due to the protruding rope loop on the back, children may be caught when wearing, 200 shirts were recalled; 9,000 sets of children's pajamas and 980 bathrobes were recalled because they did not meet the flammability standard and there was a risk of burns.
The quality of children's clothing is not uncommon, which is really worrying. What risks and threats are there in the dazzling array of children's clothing on the market? As a parent, how to prevent and buy?
Sources of safety risks for children's clothing
As the main raw material of children's clothing, cotton is often used in large quantities in order to promote plant growth and control pests and diseases during the planting process. If these toxic and harmful substances remain on the clothing, they will cause skin allergies, respiratory diseases or other side effects.
In the production process of children's clothing, various dyes and auxiliaries, whitening fluorescent agents, plasticizers and other chemical substances will inevitably be used. These substances remain on the textiles and enter people through pores and gas volatilization. In the body, it interferes with the endocrine system, damages the reproductive and immune systems, and damages the heart, lungs, liver and other tissues and organs.
Children's clothing quality standard
In view of the particularity of infants and children, the state has successively formulated quality standards for the whole life cycle of children's clothing products including raw materials, fabrics, production, packaging, testing and other links. For example, the national mandatory standard "National Textile Safety Technology and Specification", according to this standard, children's clothing is divided into infant textile products and children's textile products according to age. In terms of product identification, the safety technology of children's clothing is divided into categories A, B and C: category A is the best, category B is the second, and category C is the basic requirement. Among them, textile products for infants and young children should meet the requirements of Category A; children's textile products that directly contact the skin should meet the requirements of Category B at least; children's textile products that do not directly contact the skin should meet the requirements of Category C at least.
In terms of chemical safety requirements, the standard adds limit requirements for 6 plasticizers and 2 heavy metals such as lead and cadmium; in terms of mechanical safety, the standard makes detailed regulations on ropes and straps in different parts of children's clothing, such as head, neck, shoulders, and waist. Infants and children under the age of 7 are not allowed to have any ropes on the head and neck; for textile accessories, the standard requires a certain tensile strength, and there should be no sharp tips and edges. In addition, combustion performance requirements have been added.
