LONG-TERM FORMALDEHYDE EMISSIONS FROM DMDHEU-FINISHED COTTON FABRICS

Monitoring the emission of formaldehyde has become important for the A merican textile industry as the formaldehyde levels in textiles are lo wered to meet stringent regulatory standards on formaldehyde in air. B ecause there was little information available documenting the decay of the available formaldehyde with time, research was initiated to estab lish formaldehyde emission profiles for durable press finishes over se veral days. The finishes were all from commercial sources and were bas ed on dimethyloldihydroxyethyleneurea (DMDHEU), either as the unmodifi ed agent or as the methylated or glycolated derivative. In general, em ission patterns were similar for all of the finishes studied; however, maximum emissions reflected the positive influence of control options used by the industry for reduction of formaldehyde. Agent modificatio n through methylation or glycolation produced reductions in maximum em issions. Increasing the ratio of methanol to DMDHEU in methylation dec reased the maximum emission. Time-weighted averages also showed the in fluence of control options.