I Dress Myself

Know your phthalic acids

If you're considering using a plastisol ink that's phthalate-free, look into it a bit more. Some manufacturers get around this by changing the position of the phthalic acid carbon group. It doesn't change the properties of the molecule - just the name - so it means they can clearly state that the ink is phthalate-free, even though it's just as harmful to the environment. In some cases they add a second group to the molecule, changing it's name from phthalate to something else but it's actually even more harmful. Of course it can now be labelled phthalate-free but it's even more harmful and, of course, totally legal. Shameful.

Probably the best analogy would be when CFCs were first banned, many chemical manufacturers simply removed one (or more) Cl or F atoms with an H and called them HCFCs. They were honest in saying that they were "CFC free", but still did almost the same damage to the ozone.

If you're looking into using a phthalate-free plastisol ink make sure you ask your distributor what plasticiser they use instead.

Posted in Screen Printing, Ethics and Environment by Hannah on Tuesday 10 February 2009