Which REACH Annex XVII restrictions apply to chemicals in clothing, textiles, leather and footwear sold in the EU? List each entry (for example azo dyes, chromium VI in leather, nickel, DMF, PAHs, nonylphenol ethoxylates and the CMR substances in textiles), the limit values and the dates they apply.

Answer: Under REACH Annex XVII, the restrictions that apply directly to clothing, textiles, leather and footwear on the EU market are entries 4, 7, 8, 20, 27, 43, 46a, 47, 50, 51, 61, 68, 72 and 79. Entry 79 (PFHxA) is the one to watch: its clothing and footwear limits apply from 10 October 2026. Entries 46, 70 and 76 restrict how textiles and leather are processed or cleaned, and entries 23, 63 and 77 catch some textile products through their general article rules. All limits below come from the current consolidated REACH text (consolidation of 11 May 2026).

Approach: I read the Annex XVII entries and Appendices 8, 9, 10 and 12 in the consolidated REACH text. I checked the amending regulations and the ECHA restriction list for adoption references, and the ECHA restriction tracker for pending textile proposals.

Restrictions on clothing, textiles, leather and footwear

Entry	Substance	Scope	Limit	Applies from
4, 7, 8	TRIS flame retardant, TEPA, PBB	Textiles that touch the skin (garments, underwear, linen)	Must not be used at all; non-compliant articles can't be sold	No date in the entry text [1][2][3]
20	Organotins	TBT/TPT: any article. DBT: articles for consumers. DOT: textiles touching the skin, gloves, footwear touching the skin, childcare articles, nappies and others	0.1% by weight of tin	TBT/TPT: 1 July 2010. DBT and DOT: 1 January 2012 (DBT in PVC-coated fabrics for outdoor use: 1 January 2015) [4]
27	Nickel	Rivet buttons, tighteners, rivets, zippers and metal marks used in garments	Release of no more than 0.5 μg/cm²/week; coatings must hold this for at least 2 years; CEN test methods	No date in the entry text [5]
43	Azo dyes	Textile and leather articles in direct and prolonged contact with skin or mouth (clothing, bedding, towels, footwear, gloves, watch straps, handbags, consumer yarn and fabric, textile or leather toys)	Up to 30 mg/kg (0.003%) of each of the 22 aromatic amines listed in Appendix 8. The azo dye in Appendix 9 can't be sold for colouring textiles or leather above 0.1%. Test methods in Appendix 10: EN ISO 17234-1/-2 for leather, EN ISO 14362-1/-3 for textiles	Carried into Annex XVII by Regulation (EC) No 552/2009 [6][7][8][9][10]
46a	Nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE)	Textiles expected to be washed in water ("textile article" means at least 80% textile fibre)	Below 0.01% by weight of the article or of each part. Exempt: second-hand textiles, and new textiles made only from recycled textiles without NPE	3 February 2021 (Regulation (EU) 2016/26) [11][12]
47	Chromium VI	Leather articles, and articles with leather parts, that touch the skin	Below 3 mg/kg (0.0003%) of the total dry weight of the leather. Second-hand articles already in use in the EU before 1 May 2015 are exempt	Regulation (EU) No 301/2014 [13][14]
50 (para 5)	8 PAHs	Rubber or plastic parts of consumer articles that touch the skin, including clothing, footwear, gloves and sportswear	Up to 1 mg/kg of each PAH (0.5 mg/kg for toys and childcare articles)	Articles first placed on the market from 27 December 2015 [15][16]
51	DEHP, DBP, BBP, DIBP	Plasticised material in articles generally (PVC, PU, rubber, coatings, prints, adhesives), for example in footwear and printed garments	Below 0.1% of the plasticised material, alone or combined	7 July 2020 [17]
61	Dimethylfumarate (DMFu)	Any article or part of an article; footwear and leather furniture prompted the restriction	Up to 0.1 mg/kg	Regulation (EU) No 412/2012, adopted 15 May 2012 [18][19][20]
68	C9-C14 PFCAs	Articles in general	Below 25 ppb for the PFCAs and their salts, or 260 ppb for related substances	25 February 2023. Oil- and water-repellent textiles protecting workers from dangerous liquids: 4 July 2023 [21]
72	33 CMR substances (Appendix 12, table below)	Consumer clothing and related accessories, other textiles with clothing-like skin contact, and footwear	Limits per substance, measured in homogeneous material	1 November 2020 (Regulation (EU) 2018/1513) [22][23]
79	PFHxA, its salts and related substances	Textiles, leather, furs and hides in consumer clothing and accessories; consumer footwear. Then other consumer textiles and leather	Below 25 ppb for PFHxA and its salts, or 1,000 ppb for related substances	10 October 2026 for clothing and footwear; 10 October 2027 for other consumer textiles. Exempt: category III PPE (listed points), medical and IVD devices, construction textiles, and stock placed on the market before those dates [24]

What entry 72 does not cover ^[22]:

• items made only of natural leather, fur or hide;
• fasteners and decorative attachments that are not textile;
• second-hand items;
• wall-to-wall carpets, rugs and runners;
• PPE and medical devices;
• disposable textiles, for paragraph 1(b) only.

From 1 November 2020 to 1 November 2023, formaldehyde in jackets, coats and upholstery had a transitional limit of 300 mg/kg; the Appendix 12 limit of 75 mg/kg now applies.

Entry 72: Appendix 12 limits (33 substances)

Substance(s)	Limit
Cadmium, chromium VI, arsenic and lead compounds (4 groups)	1 mg/kg each, measured as the extractable metal
Benzene	5 mg/kg
8 PAHs (BaA, BbFA, BaP, BeP, BjFA, BkFA, chrysene, DBAhA)	1 mg/kg each
p-Chlorobenzotrichloride, benzotrichloride, benzyl chloride	1 mg/kg each
Formaldehyde	75 mg/kg
5 phthalates (di-C6-8-branched alkyl esters C7-rich, bis(2-methoxyethyl), diisopentyl, DPP, DnHP)	1,000 mg/kg, alone or combined with other CMR phthalates
NMP, DMAC, DMF (N,N-dimethylformamide)	3,000 mg/kg each
Disperse Blue 1, Basic Red 9, Basic Violet 3 (with 0.1% or more Michler's ketone), quinoline	50 mg/kg each
4-chloro-o-toluidinium chloride, 2-naphthylammonium acetate, 2,4-diaminoanisole sulphate, 2,4,5-trimethylaniline hydrochloride	30 mg/kg each

Sources: ^[25][26]

Restrictions on processing and dry cleaning

• Entry 46 (nonylphenol and NPE): can't be used at 0.1% or more in textile and leather processing. Exceptions are processing with no release to waste water, and systems that remove the organic fraction before biological treatment (degreasing of sheepskin) ^[27].
• Entry 76 (N,N-dimethylformamide, often abbreviated DMF; a different substance from dimethylfumarate in entry 61): from 12 December 2023, use at 0.3% or more requires worker DNELs of 6 mg/m³ by inhalation and 1.1 mg/kg/day dermal. This started on 12 December 2024 for polyurethane coating of textiles and on 12 December 2025 for dry and wet spinning of synthetic fibres ^[28].
• Entry 80 (DMAC): the same kind of worker DNEL condition applies from 23 December 2026, and from 23 June 2029 for spinning man-made fibres ^[29].
• Entry 70 (D4, D5, D6): can't be used as dry-cleaning solvents for textiles, leather and fur after 6 June 2026. D5 in strictly controlled closed systems is allowed until 6 June 2034 ^[30][31].
• Entry 18 (mercury compounds): can't be used to impregnate heavy-duty industrial textiles or the yarn for them ^[32].

General article restrictions that can catch textile products

• Entry 23 (cadmium): below 0.01% in articles made of PVC, PU and other listed plastics ^[33].
• Entry 63 (lead):
  • below 0.05% in parts of consumer articles that children could put in their mouths;
  • below 0.1% in PVC articles from 29 November 2024 ^[34][35].
• Entry 77 (formaldehyde emissions): limit of 0.080 mg/m³ for articles other than furniture and wood-based articles, from 6 August 2026. Articles covered by entry 72 are excluded. On my reading, carpets and rugs, which entry 72 leaves out, fall under entry 77 instead ^[36].

Pending proposals

• Skin sensitisers in textile and leather: ECHA lists it at "opinions adopted"; it has not been adopted into Annex XVII. The final opinion text proposes:
  • generic limits of 130 mg/kg in textile and 30 mg/kg in leather;
  • cobalt at 70 mg/kg in textile and 15 mg/kg in leather;
  • chromium VI in leather cut from 3 to 1 mg/kg five years after entry into force;
  • a 3-year transition period ^[37].
• Universal PFAS restriction: still at opinion development. Consumer apparel, footwear and home textiles are assessed as one sector ^[38].

Where the table shows no date (entries 4, 7, 8, 27), the entry text itself gives none. For DMFu, the amending regulation states only that it entered into force 20 days after publication.