Determination of some heavy metals and their health risk in T-shirts printed for a special program

Heavy metals often are used in different textile processes, like dyeing and printing. When the toxic elements are present in more than recommended in textile materials they may impose potential risk to human health by absorption through the skin. In this study concentrations of some heavy metals (Co, Cu, Cr, Cd, and Pb) were analyzed in skin contact fading T-shirts printed for a special program at Mettu town using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy with a microwave digestion method technique for sample preparation. High levels of Cu were found in black, green, blue, and red-colored T-shirts ranging from 26.726–179.315mg/kg. Cr exceeded the recommended limits in most samples of T-shirts and was mostly in yellow, black, and blue colors. Cd levels were found to be within normal ranges. However, all T-shirt samples had low levels of cobalt, ranging from 1.33±2.13 to3.94±0.21. Maximum lead concentrations were found to be 3.40 ± 0.19 mg/kg for red-colored samples and 2.71 ± 0.13 mg/kg for blue colored samples. The metal concentrations in the T-shirts investigated were also compared to the OEKO Tex standard 100 limits. In this investigation, the concentrations of Pb, Cu, and Cr in red and green colored T-shirt samples were above the OEKO Tex suggested standard value. Therefore a strict local and international regulation and measures need to be taken to avoid toxicity of the studied metals.