Projects-Safety

The technical-scientific activities of the Association aim at two main objectives: "making the textile products safe" and carrying out basic as well as applied research, in particular in the field of thermo-physiological comfort.

Thanks to the activities carried out and to the competencies of the Network of the Associazione Tessile e Salute, The Ministry of Health approved and financed the project entitled "Institution of a National Observatory to evaluate the textile products risks on health", proposed by the Association. This project has the aim of finding out the real risk for health connected to the use of textiles. Tessile e Salute is the leader of this project, which has the following goals:
Goal 1: realizing a National Observatory for the contact dermatitis checked in the textile product consumers, in cooperation with SIDAPA. The Observatory involves 9 clinics located in the national territory, with the aim of defining the preponderance on people of this kind of disease, updating patch tests and finding out "complained" textiles for following analyses.
Goal 2: realizing a sampling of the textiles present in Italy, after a preliminary standardization of the analytical and observational methods necessary to reveal the substances present in the tissue, in cooperation with CNR-Ismac, JRC Ispra and other national certifying laboratories.
Goal 3: supplementing the already existing data bank of the chemical substances present in the production processes and in the final textile products, realized thank to the ISPESL funding (8000 commercial compounds referable to 600 basic substances), validated by ISS, ISPESL and Federchimica, and the draft of good use praxis of chemical products.
The information gained by the Observatory can be a good basis to select the threads and "secure" substances that can be used to realize the project.
In order to reach its numerous objectives the association will coordinate, at a national level, the contributions of many bodies; most of them are already working with Tessile e Salute on these themes. Among the others there are:
Istituto Superiore per la Prevenzione e la Sicurezza del Lavoro ISPESL, Istituto Superiore di Sanità ISS, Società Italiana di Dermatologia Allergologia Professionale e Ambientale SIDAPA, Federchimica, Asl 12 of Biella, Regional Observatory on Allergies, ITIS Buzzi of Prato, CNR-Ismac of Biella, Joint Research Centre of Ispra, Textile laboratories.

This project was co-ordinated by the president of the Associazione Tessile e Salute and funded by ISPESL in the year 2002, with an allocation of 200,000 Euro.
The project ended on 31 March 2006 and the final report will be available on this website after the approval of ISPESL.

The document has been drawn up in 2003 thanks to a scholarship granted by the Chamber of Commerce of Biella. Currently it is being revised by the Association.

The research activity has been funded within the scope of the databank project.

Approved by the Scientific Committee and by the Board of Directors of the Association.
The first list has been adopted as a selective criterion by the quality label of the Biella textile district, "Biella, the Art of Excellence".

This project, funded by ISPESL, has involved the laboratories of the following bodies: CNR-ISMAC/section of Biella, CRAB - Medicina e Ambiente of Biella, Istituto Tecnico Industriale Q.Sella of Biella, Istituto Tecnico Industriale Statale Tullio Buzzi of Prato, Stazione Sperimentale per la Seta of Como.