NPEO was detected in the process water of a fabric mill in 2016. However, in this case a detailed review of the facility’s chemical inventory produced no possible sources of NPEO. The Victoria’s Secret & Co. team came together to brainstorm other likely sources, and identified the knitting oil added during cotton yarn production as one possibility. A Victoria’s Secret & Co. representative asked the fabric mill to contact their knitting factory and ask for a sample of the oil used to produce the yarn they had purchased. The mill did so and sent the knitting oil sample to a third-party lab for chemical screening. The resulting report confirmed the knitting oil contained an elevated concentration of APEOs. Victoria’s Secret & Co. asked the fabric mill to inform their upstream knitting factory to identify an APEO free alternative. Once an alternative was found, the chemical screening test was repeated and confirmed the knitting oil was APEO-free. Future wastewater tests from this fabric mill revealed no detectable APEOs.

*Note: Victoria’s Secret & Co. is now a stand-alone company, but was apart of L Brands until Aug. 3, 2021.