EN ISO 20999:2026

• Abstract:

  This document specifies a test method for the determination of total amount of halogens (including fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine) present in textile products by combustion and ion chromatography (C-IC).; This document is applicable to all materials of textile products which are combustible, e.g. fibres, fabrics, plastic components (including coating), wood.

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 12-May-2026
• ICS: 59.080.01 - Textiles in general
• Technical Committee: CEN/TC 248 - Textiles and textile products
• Drafting Committee: CEN/TC 248/WG 26 - Methods of test for phthalates
• Current Stage: 6060 - Definitive text made available (DAV) - Publishing
• Start Date: 13-May-2026
• Due Date: 19-Nov-2027
• Completion Date: 13-May-2026
• Ref Project: SIST EN ISO 20999:2026 - Textiles - Determination of total halogens in textile products - Combustion and ion chromatography (C-IC) test method (ISO 20999:2026)

• Refers: ISO 3696:1987 - Water for analytical laboratory use — Specification and test methods
• Effective Date: 09-Sep-2026
• Consolidated By: ISO 20999:2026 - Textiles — Determination of total halogens in textile products — Combustion and ion chromatography (C-IC) method
• Effective Date: 12-Feb-2026

Overview

EN ISO 20999:2026 is an international standard developed by CEN and ISO, providing a robust method for the determination of total halogens in textile products. This standard specifies the procedure for quantifying all types of halogens-fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine-within textiles and their components through a combination of combustion and ion chromatography (C-IC). Applicable to a wide range of textile materials and associated elements such as fibers, fabrics, coatings, plastic parts, and wood, EN ISO 20999:2026 ensures accurate, reproducible, and universal testing regardless of the textile product composition.

Key Topics

• Scope and Applicability

  • Determination of total halogens: fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine
  • Method uses combustion (for complete breakdown) followed by ion chromatography (for specific halogen detection)
  • Suitable for all combustible textile materials, including fibers, fabrics, coated textiles, plastics, and wooden parts

• Principle of the Method

  • Sample undergoes combustion in an oxygen-rich environment, releasing halogen gases
  • Gases are collected in an absorption solution
  • Ion chromatography quantifies each halogen present

• Required Equipment and Chemicals

  • Combustion system with electric furnace and quartz tubes
  • Ion chromatography instrument with conductivity detector
  • Analytical-grade reagents (as per ISO 3696 for water and specified halogen salts)

• Reliability and Reporting

  • Standardized calculation for halogen content in mg/kg
  • Interlaboratory trials confirm reliability and repeatability
  • Test report must include details such as reference to the standard, sample identification, detected halogen amounts, any deviations, and the date of test

Applications

EN ISO 20999:2026 is vital for:

• Textile Manufacturing and Sourcing

  • Enables manufacturers to monitor and control halogen content in textiles
  • Helps identify and minimize the presence of undesirable or restricted halogens for health, safety, and environmental reasons

• Quality Assurance and Product Certification

  • Facilitates compliance with international regulations and market entry requirements
  • Useful in eco-labeling processes and safety certifications

• Consumer Product Testing

  • Applied by laboratories assessing finished textile goods-including garments, home textiles, upholstery, and coated fabrics
  • Detects halogens that may impact product safety, flammability, and recyclability

• Environmental and Regulatory Compliance

  • Supports documentation for REACH, RoHS, and other chemical restriction frameworks
  • Assists brands and retailers in addressing sustainability and chemical safety commitments

Related Standards

• ISO 3696: Water for analytical laboratory use - Specification and test methods (referenced for reagent preparation)
• ISO/IEC 17025: General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories
• EN 71-3: Safety of toys - Migration of certain elements (may reference halogen analysis for textiles in toys)
• ISO 1833 Series: Determination of fiber composition in textiles (complementary to chemical analysis standards)

Keywords: textiles, halogen determination, combustion, ion chromatography, total halogens, chlorine in textiles, bromine in textiles, fluorine analysis, standard for textiles, textile product testing, CEN, ISO 20999, textile safety compliance, chemical analysis of textiles.

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-julij-2026
Tekstilije - Ugotavljanje skupne vsebnosti halogenov v tekstilnih izdelkih -
Preskusna metoda zgorevanja in ionske kromatografije (C-IC) (ISO 20999:2026)
Textiles - Determination of total halogens in textile products - Combustion and ion
chromatography (C-IC) test method (ISO 20999:2026)
Textilien - Bestimmung der Gesamthalogene aus textilen Erzeugnissen - Verfahren
mittels Verbrennungs-Ionenchromatographie (C-IC) (ISO 20999:2026)
Textiles - Détermination des halogènes totaux présents dans les produits textiles -
Méthode par combustion et chromatographie ionique (C-CI) (ISO 20999:2026)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN ISO 20999:2026
ICS:
59.080.01 Tekstilije na splošno Textiles in general
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EN ISO 20999
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
May 2026
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 59.080.01
English Version
Textiles - Determination of total halogens in textile
products - Combustion and ion chromatography (C-IC)
method (ISO 20999:2026)
Textiles - Détermination des halogènes totaux présents Textilien - Bestimmung der Gesamthalogene aus
dans les produits textiles - Méthode par combustion et textilen Erzeugnissen - Verfahren mittels
chromatographie ionique (C-CI) (ISO 20999:2026) Verbrennungs-Ionenchromatographie (C-IC) (ISO
20999:2026)
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 26 April 2026.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this
European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references
concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN
member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by
translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management
Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2026 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN ISO 20999:2026 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3

European foreword
This document (EN ISO 20999:2026) has been prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 38 "Textiles"
in collaboration with Technical Committee CEN/TC 248 “Textiles and textile products” the secretariat of
which is held by BSI.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an
identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by November 2026, and conflicting national standards
shall be withdrawn at the latest by November 2026.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards
body/national committee. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the
following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of
North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the
United Kingdom.
Endorsement notice
The text of ISO 20999:2026 has been approved by CEN as EN ISO 20999:2026 without any modification.

International
Standard
ISO 20999
First edition
Textiles — Determination
2026-04
of total halogens in textile
products — Combustion and ion
chromatography (C-IC) method
Textiles — Détermination des halogènes totaux présents dans les
produits textiles — Méthode par combustion et chromatographie
ionique (C-CI)
Reference number
ISO 20999:2026(en) © ISO 2026
ISO 20999:2026(en)
© ISO 2026
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on
the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below
or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii
ISO 20999:2026(en)
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Principle . 1
5 Reagents and materials . 1
5.1 Water .1
5.2 Halide salts .2
5.3 Standard solutions .2
5.3.1 General .2
5.3.2 Standard stock solutions .2
5.3.3 Standard working solution .2
5.3.4 Calibration solutions .2
5.4 Eluent .3
5.5 Absorption solution . .3
5.6 Oxygen .3
6 Apparatus . 3
7 Preparation of test specimen . 4
8 Procedure . 4
8.1 Combustion by separate combustion device .4
8.2 Determination by separate ion chromatograph (IC) .4
8.3 Determination by combustion device coupled to an ion chromatograph (C-IC) .4
9 Expression of results . 4
9.1 Calculation .4
9.2 Limit of quantification (LOQ) .5
9.3 Reliability of the test method .5
10 Test report . 5
Annex A (informative) Combustion device . 6
Annex B (informative) Ion chromatographic analysis . 9
Annex C (informative) Reliability of method .11

iii
ISO 20999:2026(en)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through
ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee
has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations,
governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely
with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types
of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent
rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a)
patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that
this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at
www.iso.org/patents.ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
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constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee TC 38, Textiles, in collaboration with the European
Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC 248, Textiles and textile products, in
accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

iv
ISO 20999:2026(en)
Introduction
The determination of the total content of various halogens can be used as a screening method for harmful
substances whose constituents include one or more of these halogens. For example, the fluorine content of
a textile can indicate that it contains legally restricted perfluorinated and polyfluorinated alkyl substances
(PFAS) or other organic fluorine. High chlorine and bromine concentrations can indicate the potential
presence of flame retardants or biocides in the textile. It should be noted that the test method is not able to
distinguish betw
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