Determination of the Levels of Heavy Metals and Formaldehyde in Baby Clothes in South Africa: A Case Study of Stores in the Greater Cape Town Region

Table 6

Heavy metal concentrations (mg/kg) in various textile apparel purchased from low-end market stores after wet digestion.

Heavy metal	SD	L1	L2	L3	L4	L5	L6	L7	L8	L9	L10	L11	L12	L13	L14	L15	L16	L17	Min.	Max.
Pb	0.049	0.058	0.057	10.866	0.067	0.057	23.147	3.093	3.481	0.168	0.298	14.680	1.381	0.051	1.928	23.662	23.778	4.472	0.057	23.662
As	0.046	0.001	0.009	n.d	0.017	n.d	0.006	0.006	0.010	0.001	0.009	n.d	n.d	0.010	0.001	0.001	0.013	n.d	0.001	0.017
Co	0.041	0.023	0.002	0.090	0.017	0.001	n.d	n.d	1.053	n.d	n.d	n.d	n.d	<0.001	n.d	0.013	0.027	0.007	0.001	1.053
Cr	0.033	0.187	0.245	6.373	0.147	0.160	3.307	2.823	2.295	4.069	2.277	3.237	2.448	0.166	2.207	3.181	2.895	3.200	0.160	6.373
Ni	0.100	0.077	0.083	32.660	0.051	0.054	37.671	29.633	29.378	29.901	27.289	33.85	29.383	0.072	28.524	33.201	31.095	27.708	0.051	33.85
Cd	0.009	0.003	0.004	0.737	0.004	0.005	0.734	0.216	0.310	0.225	0.263	0.764	0.237	0.003	0.295	0.881	0.817	0.338	0.003	0.881

n.d: not detected, SD: standard deviation. Oeko-Tex standard 100 limit values: Pb < 75; Cd < 40.