Abstract

The correlation of acetaldehyde release from leather with leather chemicals was evaluated through a test method based on purge-and-trap technique, and the trace-to-source of acetaldehyde in leather was investigated. The results indicated that occurrences of acetaldehyde in soaking auxiliaries and degreasing agents were significantly positive. The processed pelts with these auxiliaries gave obvious acetaldehyde contents when comparing with these produced by acetaldehyde-free chemicals. A further test on the ethoxylated compounds – fatty alcohol ethoxylates (AEO) and polyethylene glycol (PEG), which are the most common ingredients in auxiliaries, revealed that AEO and PEG with low degrees of polymerisation as AEO-3 and PEG200, comprised acetaldehyde in high concentration. It was concluded that some ethoxylated surfactants in leather chemicals could be one of the main sources of acetaldehyde in leather.