American Airlines flight attendants union reveals new chemicals found in its uniform tests

The Association of Professional Flight Attendants on Friday issued a memo to its more than 25,500 member American Airlines flight attendants detailing initial results of independent testing being conducted on new uniforms that debuted in late September. The memo said the initial testing showed "a detectable amount of several substances/chemicals" in the uniforms. The chemicals listed in Friday's memo include pentachlorophenol, tetrachloriphenols, trichlorophenols and free and partially-releasable formaldehyde. These chemicals are different than those listed in a memo from AA management last Wednesday. The chemicals named in AA management's Wednesday memo were found in the fabrics in testing done by AA prior to the rollout of the new uniforms on Sept. 20. APFA said in its memo on Friday that the results of its independent test of uniform fabrics showed that the amounts of chemicals found in the uniforms were not outside "accepted limits under Oeko-Tex Standard requirements for certification of textile products."<br/>