What certificates actually cover.
Roland DG's inks were certified in 2020, Brother's in 2018; neither certificate covers a printer or a shirt. Seven checks since August found a narrow mark read as a broad one.
Roland DG announced on 5 November 2020 that its primers and inks for the Texart XT-640S-DTG printer were certified under ECO PASSPORT by OEKO-TEX. Brother DTG said the same of its Innobella Textile ink line in January 2018. Both certificates are real. Neither covers the printer, and neither is the STANDARD 100 label that goes on a finished shirt. The rest of this section is variations on that gap.
OEKO-TEX and GOTS: which object carries the mark
OEKO-TEX describes ECO PASSPORT as designed for manufacturers and distributors of chemicals, and STANDARD 100 as a label for textiles tested for harmful substances, “from yarn to finished product”. So the certificate on a DTG ink is an ECO PASSPORT, awarded to the ink and its primer. Verdict 89 confirms exactly that, and the same Roland DG and Brother announcements are its evidence. Both are dated. An announcement from 2018 or 2020 does not tell you the certificate is current today, so ask for the certificate number.
The mistake reappears whenever an ink claim and a garment standard are used together. Verdict 20 examined the statement that Kornit’s NeoPigment inks, as used by Printful, are non-toxic and meet both STANDARD 100 and GOTS. It rates the claim partly true: both marks exist, and both are cited at the wrong object. STANDARD 100 belongs to whoever made the garment. GOTS approves chemical inputs, inks among them, and Global Standards states that approval “does not mean that an input is free from all hazardous substances”. The verdict could not confirm which certificates Kornit holds, because kornit.com refused the check.
Correction, 21 October 2026. Verdict 20 is now rated false. Kornit’s own safety data sheet for NeoPigment Eco-Rapid White classifies the ink Acute Tox. 4, H302 “Harmful if swallowed”, and Skin Sens. 1, H317, so its maker contradicts “non-toxic”, and neither certification is cited at the right object. Which certificates Kornit holds is still unconfirmed.
Sources: Large Format Review (Roland DG, 5 Nov 2020) · Screen Printing (Brother DTG, Jan 2018) · OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 · OEKO-TEX ECO PASSPORT · Global Standards (GOTS inputs) · Verdict 89 · Verdict 20
“Non-toxic” powder
A supplier called Sublistar describes its TPU hot-melt DTF powder as “non-toxic, odorless, eco-friendly, and non-irritating to human skin”, adds that such powder is often used in children’s clothing, and calls it “harmless to the human body and the environment”. The page names no safety data sheet or certificate. A different supplier’s polyurethane hot-melt powder, on DTF Station’s product page, carries this warning: harmful if swallowed, skin irritation may occur, wear a mask, gloves and protective clothing. Verdict 55 rates the “non-toxic” language false on that evidence. It rests on a hazard warning for the same class of material, not on a test of Sublistar’s own product, and the verdict says so.
Sources: Sublistar promotion page · DTF Station product page · Verdict 55
Children’s garments: the wrong certificate
Stahls publishes certificate STL2026-37 for Siser EasyWeed heat-transfer film, valid until 2 February 2027 and titled “General Certification of Conformity”. For products designed primarily for children aged 12 or younger, the Consumer Product Safety Commission requires third-party testing and a Children’s Product Certificate instead. Verdict 87 rates false the claim that the general certificate is the one CPSC requires for a children’s garment decorated with that film. It is a verdict about the certificate type, not a finding that the film is unsafe.
Since 8 July 2026, importers of most regulated consumer products, a shop importing its own blanks among them, must also file those certificates electronically with Customs and Border Protection.
Sources: CPSC (Children’s Product Certificate) · Stahls certificate for Siser EasyWeed · Verdict 87
Drinkware: whose rule is the 20 mm
The claim says FDA’s ceramic-mug lead rule, Compliance Policy Guide Sec. 545.450, keeps decoration off a 20 mm band at the rim. The FDA document sets 0.5 micrograms of lead per millilitre for cups and mugs and describes no band. The 20 mm is Canada’s: under SOR/2016-175 a vessel decorated within 20 mm of the rim must not release more than 4 mg/L of lead. That is a migration limit, not a keep-off zone. Verdict 56 rates the FDA claim false.
A neighbouring claim treats UL GREENGUARD as proof that an ink is safe for drinkware. UL’s own page describes “healthy indoor air quality through chemical emission testing” and never mentions food contact, which in the EU is a separate test under Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004.
Sources: FDA CPG Sec. 545.450 · Justice Laws, SOR/2016-175 · UL on GREENGUARD · Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004 · Verdict 56
The same habit in headlines
Two more checks this autumn found the claim wider than the page. Print Business reported Sun Chemical’s OptiPace on 7 September as an ink for printers who need to run presses as fast as possible; the page ties it to sheetfed litho presses that reach 21,000 sheets an hour and never mentions inkjet. A claim doing the rounds this month called it a new high-speed industrial inkjet ink, which verdict 94 rates false. Mecolour’s page of 11 September was described as setting out manufacturing criteria and heat-consistency standards for sublimation ovens. It is a checklist for choosing an oven supplier. The temperature ranges it lists (60 to 200°C for the 20-litre oven, 180 to 220°C for the S302 tunnel oven) are product specifications, with nothing on uniformity or tolerance, and verdict 95 rates the claim false.
Sources: Print Business (OptiPace) · Mecolour · Verdict 94 · Verdict 95
What to ask for. Three questions cover most of the above. Which object does the mark name: the ink, the garment, the powder, the facility? Is it the certificate type the rule requires for this product, a children’s certificate rather than a general one? And what is the date on it? A shop that can answer those from a certificate number can ignore the adjectives on the product page.
“Sun Chemical introduces new high-speed industrial inkjet ink formulations”