Ion Beam Analysis of Fabric Dyes from Myanmar

The textile industry in Myanmar has been growing steadily over the last several years. However, the environmental impact of this growth remains largely unregulated.  There is a possibility that the fabric dyes used in the industry, are not disposed of properly, leading to components of the dyes infiltrating the nearby ecosystems and water supplies.  This runoff could be contaminated with hazardous compounds from the dyes themselves. We have performed Proton Induced X-ray Analysis (PIXE) on 19 samples of different colored dye powders from Myanmar to identify their composition to look for any heavy metals or other toxic substances that may be present. The powdered dyes were compressed into solid disks with a diameter of 0.5” using a hydraulic press at 4000 psi. These disks were coated via an evaporator with aluminium, so that they would be able to conduct, and carry away charge. We used the Union College Ion Beam Analysis Accelerator with a 2.2 MeV proton beam to excite atoms in the samples, which in turn release X-Rays of characteristic energies corresponding to specific elements. We will describe the results of our analyses of the dye samples, and the potential impact of dye runoff in the water supply and ecosystems near major fabric dying locations in Myanmar.