After three years on the market, Archroma’s Denisol aniline-free pre-reduced liquid indigo has assisted its denim partners in removing almost 18 metric tons of aniline from the denim supply chain.

Aniline is a key ingredient used to make the indigo molecule but during the process some aniline impurities are carried through into the indigo dyestuff. When the indigo is dyed on the fabric, a lot of the aniline impurity is locked into the pigment in the fabric. The remainder of the aniline impurity – approximately 300 metric tons annually – is discharged during dyeing.

This can be an issue because aniline is toxic to aquatic life and in addition, exposure levels to factory workers can be high. Denisol Pure Indigo was therefore developed as an aniline-free indigo solution for designers, manufacturers and brand owners.

Since the launch of Denisol Pure Indigo, several denim manufacturers such as Absolute Denim, Advance Denim, Azgard 9, Kilim Group, Nuevo Mundo, Rantex, Shasha Denim and Tuong Long, have converted their production or dedicated lines to aniline-free denim for specific brands and retailers.

Archroma evaluates that, based on the 18 metric tons of Denisol Pure Indigo sold since its introduction around 300 million pairs of jeans have been produced free of aniline and more than 18,000 garment workers protected from its toxicity.

“Aniline is a key ingredient of indigo and we really wanted to do something about it, although we initially faced some resistance as not everyone was ready to shed light on the issue, especially in the indigo industry,” says Heike van de Kerkhof, CEO at Archroma. “That is why we are so grateful to the many like-minded denim partners who decided to take the hand we were offering with Denisol Pure Indigo.”

www.archroma.com