
Copyright © 2022 American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists
436 AATCC TM206-2020 AATCC Manual of International Test Methods and Procedures/2023
stock solution by a standard method (see
Section 9. Standardization of Stock
Formaldehyde Solution, or any other
suitable procedure such as sodium sulfite
titration using 0.1 N HCl (see 14.5).
Record the actual concentration of this
standardized stock solution. This stock
solution will keep for at least four weeks
and is used to prepare standard dilutions.
8.1.1 A 1:10 dilution of the standard-
ized formaldehyde stock solution is pre-
pared by pipetting 25-mL of the standard-
ized stock solution into a 250-mL
volumetric flask and diluting to the mark
with deionized water. The stock solution
is then titrated and its concentration is de-
termined as µg/mL.
8.2 A 5-concentration calibration
curve, which may include zero, is sug-
gested. Prepare the calibration curve by
pipetting from the following: 0, 1, 3, 5,
10, 15, 20 and 30-mL volumes of the
1:10 dilution into 500-mL volumetric
flasks then adding deionized water to the
500-mL level. (If, for example, the stan-
dardized stock solution were found to be
1470 µg/mL by titration, calculate new
values for the calibration curve abscissa;
i.e., 0.0, 0.29, 0.88, 1.47, 2.94, 4.41, 5.88,
8.82 µg/mL using regression analysis.)
8.2.1 When 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30-
mL aliquots of the 1:10 dilution of the
standardized stock solution from 8.1 are
diluted with deionized water in 500-mL
volumetric flasks, formaldehyde solu-
tions containing approximately 0.30,
0.90, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.0 and 9.0 µg/mL
formaldehyde respectively will be ob-
tained. Record the calculated concentra-
tion of each solution as determined by
section 9 Standardization of Stock Form-
aldehyde. The equivalent concentrations
of the formaldehyde in the test fabric
based on the weight of accurately known
1 g of the test fabric and 100-mL of water
in the Erlenmeyer flasks will be 100
times the accurate concentrations of these
standard solutions.
8.3 Use 5 mL aliquots of each of the
standard solutions and the procedure de-
scribed in 11.4-11.7 to prepare a calibra-
tion chart in which µg/mL formaldehyde
are plotted against absorbance.
9. Standardization of Formaldehyde Stock
Solution
9.1 The stock solution containing ap-
proximately 1500 µg/mL of formalde-
hyde must be standardized in order to
produce precise calculations from the cal-
ibration curve required in colorimetric
analysis.
9.2 An aliquot of the stock solution is
reacted with an excess of sodium sulfite
followed by a back-titration with stan-
dard acid solution to a pH of 9.5.
9.2.1 Apparatus: 10 mL-volumetric pi-
pette, 50-mL volumetric pipette, 50-mL
burette, 150-mL beaker.
9.2.2 Reagents: 1.0 M sodium sulfite
(126 g Anhydrous Na2SO3/L), 0.02 N sul-
furic acid (can be purchased in standard-
ized form from chemical supply compa-
nies or must be standardized from
standard NaOH solution). Do not use
commercial standardized sulfuric acid
that has been stabilized with formalde-
hyde. If there is a doubt, check with the
chemical supplier.
9.2.3 Procedure:
A. Pipette 50-mL of the 1.0 M sodium
sulfite (Na2SO3) into the beaker.
B. Pipette 10-mL of the stock formal-
dehyde solution to a beaker.
C. Titrate the solution with the stan-
dard 0.02 N H2SO4 to an endpoint of pH
of 9.5.
9.2.4 Record the volume of acid used
to the nearest 0.01-mL. (The volume of
acid should be approximately 25-mL for
0.02 N acid.)
Calculations:
C = (30,030) (A) (N)/10
where:
C= Wt/Vol concentration of formal-
dehyde (µg/mL)
A= Vol of acid used (mL)
N= Normality of acid
9.3 Repeat the titration standardization
in duplicate or triplicate. Average the re-
sults.
9.4 Use the determined concentration
in preparing the calibration curve for the
colorimetric
analysis.
10. Test Specimens
10.1 Samples should immediately be
placed into separate zipper-type closure
plastic bags when sampled. As an extra
precaution for maintaining their original
state the samples may be wrapped in alu-
minum foil before being placed in the
plastic bags.
10.2 Cut approximately 1-g specimens;
weigh each one to ± 0.01 g. Perform in
duplicate for each sample. If there is a de-
lay in testing the 1-g specimens once they
are cut, they should be put back into the
zipper-type closure plastic bags (and re-
wrapped in foil if previously done) until
testing commences.
11. Procedures
11.1 Pipette 100.0-mL of deionized
water into each Erlenmeyer flask. Place a
fabric specimen in each flask. The fabric
should be completely submerged in the
water and not float on the surface (see
14.6). A stirring rod may be used to push
and keep the fabric below the water sur-
face. Cap the flasks and place them in the
water bath at 40 ± 1°C (105 ± 2°F) for 60
± 2 min. Shake the flasks every 5 min by
hand or use an ultrasonic water bath for
agitation. If using an ultrasonic bath,
check the water frequently for tempera-
ture changes.
11.2 Remove the flasks from the water
bath.
11.3 Remove the fabric from the
flasks. Recap the flasks and shake them
to mix any condensation formed on the
sides. Allow solutions to cool for 30 min.
11.4 Pipette 5-mL of Nash reagent into
a suitable number of test tubes, small (50-
mL) Erlenmeyer flasks, or other suitable
flasks (colorimeter or spectrophotometer
tubes can be used directly, see 14.4) and
pipette 5-mL of the reagent into at least
one additional tube for a reagent blank.
Add 5-mL aliquots from each of the sam-
ple incubation jars to the tubes. Reagent
blanks are prepared by adding 5-mL of
the Nash reagent and 5-mL of deionized
water to the tubes.
11.5 Mix and place the tubes in a 40 ±
1°C (105 ± 2°F) water bath for 30 ± 1
min. Remove tubes from bath. Cap with
stoppers or plastic paraffin film and allow
to cool to room temperature away from
direct light.
11.6 Read the absorbance in the spec-
trophotometer against the reagent blank
at 412 nm. Caution: Exposure of the de-
veloped yellow color to direct sunlight
for a period of time will cause some fad-
ing. If there is appreciable delay in read-
ing the tubes after color development and
strong sunlight is present, care should be
exercised to protect the tubes from light.
Otherwise the color is stable for consider-
able time (at least overnight) and reading
may be delayed (see 14.7 and 14.8).
11.7 Determine the µg/mL formalde-
hyde (HCHO) in the sample solutions us-
ing the prepared calibration curve (see
8.3 and 14.9).
12. Calculations and Report
12.1 Calculate the amount of formalde-
hyde released for each specimen to the
nearest µg/g using the following equation:
F = (C) (100)/W
where:
F= concentration of formaldehyde
(µg/g),
C= concentration of formaldehyde in
solution as read from the calibra-
tion curve
W= weight of the test specimen, g.
12.2 If performing both this test and
AATCC TM112, care should be used in
reporting calculated results as this test
uses 100-mL of water and AATCC
TM112 uses 50-mL.
13. Precision and Bias
13.1 Precision.
13.1.1 Interlaboratory tests. One inter-
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