The content of Al, Ba, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, P, Zn, Cd and Pb was determined in textile material samples after microwave-assisted decomposition in a cavity oven and extraction with an artificial sweat solution. Radial viewing inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) was the main detection technique, but Cd and Pb were determined by thermospray flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (TS-FF-AAS) to increase the sensitivity. Principal components analysis (PCA) was applied to the data sets to characterize the samples with respect to their geographic origin and color difference. The PCA for Brazilian single-color samples showed separation, with one group consisting of blue and green textiles and another with all the other materials evaluated. The geographic origin study showed a clear separation between Brazilian and Chinese textiles. The metals amount extracted with sweat extractable solution were lower than limits values pointed by the International Testing and Certification System for Textiles, Oko Tex Standard 100, in the all considered classes. Recoveries varied from 85 to 112% for additions ranging from 3.0 to 25 mg kg(-1) for Ca and from 0.3 to 7.0 mg kg(-1) for all other analytes through the microwave-assisted decomposition procedure. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.