GB/T 26396-2011Safety technical specification for soaps and detergents (English PDF)

Foreword

GB/T 26396-2011 was issued on 12 May 2011 by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the Standardization Administration of the People's Republic of China, and has been in force since 1 November 2011.

The document is a recommended national standard: the /T in the designation marks it as recommended rather than compulsory.

1 Scope

China's national safety technical specification for soaps and detergents. The document covers the whole family of washing products made and sold in China and divides them by who and what they touch: detergents for food, food utensils and equipment; personal cleaning products such as soap, bath products and hand wash; and everything else, from laundry powder and liquid to kitchen, glass, floor and furniture cleaners, fabric softeners, bleaches and animal cleaning products. Two questions run through it. The first is what the product does to the person using it, which is why skin corrosion and sensitisation testing, preservative control and heavy metal limits are specified. The second is what it does after it goes down the drain: surfactants are the largest single load a household puts into wastewater, and the standard fixes the biodegradability that a surfactant must reach. It does not cover dry-cleaning products based on organic solvents nor certain industrial detergents made for special purposes.

This standard specifies the terms and definitions, the product classification, the requirements, the test methods and the inspection rules for soaps and detergents.

This standard applies to soaps and detergents produced, sold and used within the territory of the People's Republic of China, including detergents for food, food utensils and equipment, detergents for personal cleaning, and detergents for other purposes.

This standard does not apply to dry-cleaning products whose principal component is an organic solvent, nor to certain industrial detergents manufactured for special purposes.

2 Normative references

The following documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

GB 9985 Detergent for hand dishwashing

GB 14930.1 Hygienic standard for detergents used for food utensils and equipment

GB/T 15818 Test method for biodegradability of surfactants

GB/T 21801 Chemicals - Ready biodegradability - Respirometric method

GB/T 21802 Chemicals - Ready biodegradability - Modified MITI test (I)

GB/T 21827 Chemicals - Skin sensitization test - Local lymph node assay

GB/T 21831 Chemicals - Ready biodegradability - Closed bottle test

GB/T 21856 Chemicals - Ready biodegradability - Carbon dioxide evolution test

GB/T 22731 Fragrances for daily use

QB/T 1505 Food flavours

QB/T 2951 Inspection rules for soaps and detergents

QB/T 2952 Marking and packaging requirements for soaps and detergents

SN/T 2245 Chemicals - In vitro skin corrosion - Human skin model test

SN/T 2246 Chemicals - In vitro skin corrosion - Transcutaneous electrical resistance test

Hygienic Standard for Cosmetics (2007 edition), Wei Jian Du Fa [2007] No. 1

3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.

3.1 soaps and detergents - preparations containing soap and/or surfactant for the purpose of washing and cleaning. Note: soaps and detergents may be in any form (liquid, powder, paste, bar, block, flake and so on) and are placed on the market for household, public institutional or industrial use.

3.2 primary biodegradation - the change in the structure of a compound brought about by the action of micro-organisms, resulting in the loss of some of its properties.

3.3 ultimate biodegradation - the degradation of a compound or organic substance by micro-organisms in the presence of oxygen into carbon dioxide, water and mineral salts of the elements, together with its assimilation into part of the micro-organisms.

4 Product classification

Products are divided into three classes according to the object of use.

Class A: detergents for food, food utensils and equipment, including dishwashing detergents and fruit and vegetable detergents.

Class B: detergents for personal cleaning, including toilet soap, bath products and hand wash.

Class C: detergents for other articles, including laundry powder, laundry liquid, laundry soap, laundry soap powder, laundry paste, sanitary ware cleaners, kitchen cleaners, glass cleaners, floor cleaners, furniture cleaners, laundry detergents for commercial laundries, fabric softeners, bleaches and animal cleaning products.