WASHINGTON (Nov. 14, 2013) — A peer-reviewed study funded by Kimberly-Clark Corp. shows that manufacturing workers may be exposed to dangerous levels of certain metals via laundered textile shop towels.
This study reaches the opposite conclusions of a study commissioned earlier this year by the Textile Rental Services Association (TRSA), which found laundered shop towels to pose no risk to workers in manufacturing facilities, tire retail stores or independent auto repair shops.
"Workers may be exposed to metals in 'clean' laundered shop towels at levels that could exceed various agency toxicity criteria and EPA (standards) for drinking water," said the study, "Evaluation of Potential Exposure to Metals in Laundered Shop Towels."
The study was published in the most recent issue of the journal Human and Ecological Risk Assessment.
The TRSA unveiled its study in a March 5, 2013, webinar in response to a 2011 Kimberly-Clark study, which found heavy concentrations of lead, antimony, cadmium and other heavy metals in laundered shop towels.
In contrast, the TRSA study measured concentrations of 27 different metals in laundered shop towels gathered from 10 industrial laundries, and found all exposure levels well under legal limits.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been addressing the question of heavy metals in laundered shop towels for several years. In 2011 and 2012, it fined industrial laundries in New England for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
In August 2013, the EPA excluded solvent-contaminated wipes from its hazardous waste regulations, an action that won the TRSA's approval.
