title: Properties, performance and associated hazards of state-of-the-art durable water repellent (DWR) chemistry for textile finishing.
abstract: Following the phase-out of long-chain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), the textile industry had to find alternatives for side-chain fluorinated polymer based durable water repellent (DWR) chemistries that incorporated long perfluoroalkyl side chains. This phase-out and subsequent substitution with alternatives has resulted in a market where both fluorinated and non-fluorinated DWRs are available. These DWR alternatives can be divided into four broad groups that reflect their basic chemistry: side-chain fluorinated polymers, silicones, hydrocarbons and other chemistries (includes dendrimer and inorganic nanoparticle chemistries). In this critical review, the alternative DWRs are assessed with regards to their structural properties and connected performance, loss and degradation processes resulting in diffuse environmental emissions, and hazard profiles for selected emitted substances. Our review shows that there are large differences in performance between the alternative DWRs, most importantly the lack of oil repellence of non-fluorinated alternatives. It also shows that for all alternatives, impurities and/or degradation products of the DWR chemistries are diffusively emitted to the environment. Our hazard ranking suggests that hydrocarbon based DWR is the most environmentally benign, followed by silicone and side-chain fluorinated polymer-based DWR chemistries. Industrial commitments to reduce the levels of impurities in silicone based and side-chain fluorinated polymer based DWR formulations will lower the actual risks. There is a lack of information on the hazards associated with DWRs, in particular for the dendrimer and inorganic nanoparticle chemistries, and these data gaps must be filled. Until environmentally safe alternatives, which provide the required performance, are available our recommendation is to choose DWR chemistry on a case-by-case basis, always weighing the benefits connected to increased performance against the risks to the environment and human health.
authors.affiliation: Chemical Environmental Science, Department of Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden. Electronic address: hanna.holmquist@chalmers.se.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Holmquist
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schellenberger
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU University, De Boelelaan 1087, NL-1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: van der Veen
authors.affiliation: Chemical Environmental Science, Department of Chemical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), VU University, De Boelelaan 1087, NL-1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P E G
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Leonards
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: I T
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Cousins
mesh_terms: D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D050091:Dendrimers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D005465:Fluorocarbon Polymers / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D006838:Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry; D053758:Nanoparticles; D012828:Silicones / Q000737:chemistry; D013783:Textile Industry; D013784:Textiles / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D050091:Dendrimers; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D005465:Fluorocarbon Polymers; D006838:Hydrocarbons; D012828:Silicones
keywords: Dendrimers; Hazard assessment; PFAS; Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances; Silicones; Wax