This week, the UK is marking National Feet Week by carrying out a number of initiatives to prioritise foot health.

Our feet are often low priority when having a health check. Today, we bring the importance of safe footwear to your attention.

Footwear is essential to keep our feet comfortable, dry and warm. We have numerous shoes to suit different occasions. The type of footwear we use can vary from sports shoes for a morning jog right through to wellington boots for a rainy day. Have you ever thought about the components that form your footwear?

Robinson Brothers manufacture rubber accelerators that are used to manufacture rubber shoes soles. Rubber accelerators are essentially required to give shoe soles the structure to perform effectively – contributing to the flexibility, strength and durability of the shoe.

The footwear industry is currently tightening regulations for the use of rubbers in footwear manufacturing. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released a new standard named ISO/TC 19577 Critical substances potentially present in footwear and footwear components -- Determination of Nitrosamines. Traditional rubber accelerators, such as thiazoles (MBTS/MBT) and thiurams (TMTD), have been identified to leave toxic residues in shoe soles and also generate highly toxic nitrosamines during the manufacturing process. These chemicals pose a hazard to the individual wearing the shoes. Click here to find out more.

The footwear industry is now becoming more aware of the issues associated with traditional accelerators, such as: Type IV allergy concerns, nitrosamine generation and residual accelerators that impact their consumers. As regulations tighten, footwear manufacturers wish to identify safer alternatives to traditional rubber accelerators. Robinson Brothers’ Robac Technology division is capable of providing technical support in rubber accelerators in order to offer bespoke solutions to such challenges. One particular rubber accelerator, Robac AS100, was specifically engineered to be completely consumed during rubber vulcanisation in order to prevent the generation of harmful nitrosamines and zero residue. No residue, no hazard, no risk.

Robac Technology products provide solutions for regulatory demands in terms of health, safety and environmental matters; whilst satisfying the exacting demands of applications. If you need assistance with transitioning to safer accelerator systems, please contact us today.
Click here to learn more about the Robac Technology product range

Robinson Brothers Limited | West Midlands | B70 0AH UK
E: [email protected]
T: +44 (0)121 553 2451
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