Chemicals in leather: International trends on risk-based control and management

Abstract

The leather sector is a traditional industry. This chapter will give an overview of the use of chemicals in the leather sector and identify different types and amounts of chemicals used in the different processes. During recent years, there has been an increased focus on chemical substances including additives in many different articles such as shoes and gloves. In particular articles that come into contact with humans have been in focus. The concern being that humans and the environment will be exposed to hazardous substances from articles. This chapter will give an overview of recent international trends and initiatives regarding chemicals in leather and articles containing leather. That includes the identification of chemicals in the produced leather that are common on restricted substance lists and present ongoing recent initiatives to control the impact from these chemicals including both legislative measures and initiatives from customers such as international brands or purchasing sectors and different eco-labels.