In a bid to eliminate the use of flame-retardant chemicals in apparel, the researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have bred four cotton lines that can be used to make self-extinguishing textiles when exposed to fire.
The new cotton lines possess the quality of acting as a flame retardant. The tests conducted by the researchers showed that the fabric produced from newly bred cotton lines self-extinguished when exposed to open flame. The normal cotton fabric was instantly burned. Researchers expressed the hope that when these new lines are commercially cultivated it will improve the safety of cotton products besides reducing the environmental and economic impact of using chemicals. Normal cotton products produce flammable fibers and to protect them from fire flame-retardant chemicals are applied to the cotton product. All consumer products like clothing, mattresses etcetera are susceptible to fire. A multi-parent breeding approach was used while preparing a new cotton line through natural genes and resulted in an unexpected trait of flame retardancy.
Researchers bred cotton lines to identify genes that affect agronomic traits such as yield and pest resistance and fiber quality traits such as length, strength, and fineness. The scientists studied each step of cotton production during the experiment. The new cotton lines also possessed the desired agronomic and fiber quality traits, making the lines sought after for breeding and consumer usage.
The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in U.S. agricultural research results in $20 of economic impact.
