Consumer Affairs Overview

How IHVCA Helps Consumers

Consumer

We consumers of High Visibility Clothing deserve safe, comfortable, and fashionable products.

  • We need quality High Visibility Clothing to protect us in the dark.
  • We need fashionable High Visibility Clothing alternatives to wear during our evening outings.

What is High Visibility Silhouette Clothing?

Silhouette reflective clothing are garments designed to outline the body shape with retro reflective fabric. This is the most effective way to differentiate the human body from road signs or traffic markings.

Why High Visibility Clothing is needed?

The visibility of cyclists, pedestrians, and highway workers in front of car light in the dark is far less than that of during daylight. "At night, the visibility distance of a dark-clad pedestrian’s clothing is less than one-third the distance required to stop for a vehicle traveling 55 mph (88 km/h), and approximately one-half the distance required to stop for a vehicle traveling 35 mph (56 km/h) (Leibowitz & Owens, 1986). The creation of reflective fabric has substantially increased observation distance in the dark. Therefore, the goal of increasing the conspicuity of pedestrians at night can be achieved, in part, through use of retroreflective materials."

Emerging Market

Reflective clothing has become an unavoidable part of occupational wear. Furthermore, the usage of retro reflective fabric and safety has begun to integrate into the casual and sportswear sector. This introduces a massive market for silhouette reflective clothing. In order ensure the safety of our garments, our industry professionals will continuously question clothing designs and improve upon them.

One point that we at IHVCA would like to stress, is that there will always be a way to increase efficiency, comfort, and fashion.

Getting Involved

One of IHVCA’s primary missions is to further voluntary standards and conformity assessment activities as a means of benefiting the public safety and comfort. Another is to assure that the interests of the public are protected and represented in standards activities. Join IHVCA to facilitate the representation of consumer interests in the standardization process.

Harmful Teflon Chemical To Be Eliminated by 2015

USEPA Announcements

Fourth Annual Progress Reports Received

October 31, 2010 - EPA received fourth annual progress reports from all eight companies participating in the 2010/15 PFOA Stewardship Program.

Read about PFOA Accomplishments January 2007 – January 2009.

In 2006, former Administrator Stephen L. Johnson invited the eight major fluoropolymer and telomer manufacturers to join in a global stewardship program with two goals:

  • To commit to achieve, no later than 2010, a 95% reduction, measured from a year 2000 baseline, in both facility emissions to all media of PFOA, precursor chemicals that can break down to PFOA, and related higher homologue chemicals, and product content levels of these chemicals.
  • To commit to working toward the elimination of these chemicals from emissions and products by 2015.

Participating companies include:

  • Arkema
  • Asahi
  • BASF Corporation (successor to Ciba)
  • Clariant
  • Daikin
  • 3M/Dyneon
  • DuPont
  • Solvay Solexis

Participating companies:

  • Submitted baseline year 2000 data on emissions and product content at the end of October 2006.
  • Report annual progress toward goals each succeeding October and report progress in terms of both U.S. and global operations.

Companies also agreed to work cooperatively with EPA and establish scientifically credible analytical standards and laboratory methods to ensure comparability of reporting.

Additional information on the 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program, EPA reporting guidance, company baseline data from 2006, and company progress reports are available at the following links:

Program Description

  • Former Administrator Johnson's Letter
  • Company Commitment Letters

Reporting Guidance

  • Background
  • Explanation of Suggested Reporting Forms
  • Minimizing CBI Claims
  • Explanation of the Term "Product"
  • Amendments, Clarifications to Guidance

Baseline Data

  • Background
  • Contents, Definitions in Table 1 and Table 2
  • Table 1 - U.S. Operations
  • Table 2 - Non - U.S. Operations

2010 Progress Reports

  • Background
  • 2010 Company Progress Reports
  • EPA's Summary Tables for 2009 Company Progress Reports

2009 Progress Reports

  • Background
  • 2009 Company Progress Reports

EPA's Summary Tables for 2009 Company Progress Reports