Breaking a sweat over chemicals in clothing?!
I love when a comfy fashion trend - like Birkenstocks, baggie jeans, Hill House Home dresses - takes off. Like the trend of athleisure: wearing activewear, which as Vogue put it, is “[n]o longer reserved for time solely at the gym…[but can] blend the lines between fashion and function, offering longevity and stylish versatility outside of just a sweaty workout.” This is how brands like Lululemon and Alo became so popular with both the fitness fiend and the average American.
However, there is a dark side to this trend: these popular brands mainly rely on synthetic fabrics like polyester, nylon, acrylic and elastane, which are made from petrochemicals and often treated with chemicals called PFAS (or "forever" chemicals). In fact, Lululemon’s prices are affected by the price of petroleum. Petroleum is a finite resource and sourcing it is detrimental to the environment. In addition, manufacturing these chemicals and fabrics generates a lot of waste and emissions which can pollute the local environment and contribute to global warming.
So why do brands continue to make activewear out of petroleum based fabrics?
Well, these fabrics move well on the body, are lightweight, are tear resistant, and (short term) are cheaper to make. These fabrics are also durable: I have a pair of Nike running leggings made from polyester that I’ve been wearing for 10+ years and they’re still in great condition (…but is it really the fabric or is it that I don’t exercise hard enough?!).
Some companies are trying to lessen their environmental impact and address the issue of plastic in our world by creating textiles made from recycled plastics. Back in 1993, Patagonia was the first outdoor-clothing brand to make “recycled polyester from plastic soda bottles.” While this cause is admirable, I still find it sad and weird that we’re normalizing wearing plastic.
My friend Mary, founder of Reprise Activewear agrees, and so she started one of the few companies that makes leggings without plastic bottles and instead uses plant based fabrics such as TENCEL, which is made from eucalyptus trees. These sorts of textiles are bio-based and are a promising sustainable alternative to petroleum based textiles.
A friend recently asked me for recommendations for brands of exercise clothing that “don’t contain chemicals” because as an athlete who runs daily and spends most of the day wearing activewear, she’s particularly concerned about the effects of these chemicals.
Unfortunately, about “70 percent of clothes produced around the world are made from plastic (synthetic) materials.” So these chemicals are a concern in all types of clothing. But especially for activewear because moving and sweating in these kinds of textiles (and ironically these fabrics sometimes make us sweat more) causes the fabric to breakdown into tiny pieces which we call microplastics.
Because of their chemical structure, microplastics attach easily to known endocrine-disrupting chemicals—including dioxins, pesticides (like DDT), brominated flame retardants, phthalates, and bisphenols (BPA). These chemicals are found in many dyes and synthetic materials used in the fashion industry. So when we sweat, our skin - which is our largest organ - opens its pores, which then takes in all those microplastics from the fabric directly into our bloodstream, affecting our blood, intestines, lungs, kidneys, livers, hearts, reproductive organs, and even placentas. These microplastics can disrupt critical reproductive and metabolic hormone-regulating connections, and even disturb the immune system’s normal response and damage immune cells.
And then of course, when it comes to washing your activewear after wearing it, it turns out that a “single wash load can release several million microfibers” past the washing machine’s filtration system and into our oceans, waterways and air, which eventually find their way into our bodies.
But what about recycled synthetic textiles?
Overall, I encourage using recycled materials since it helps close the loop and requires fewer resources to produce than that for pure synthetic textiles. But personally, I still rather avoid high percentages of recycled synthetic textiles as there is still a chemical process involved which results in microplastics.
As I mentioned earlier, there are many brands who use recycled textiles. If you buy their products, here are steps you can take to limit your exposure:
remove your workout clothing immediately after exercising,
wash your clothing at lower temperatures (since warmer water breaks down the fabrics more easily),
air-dry clothing when possible (research shows that tumble drying clothes releases microfibers into the air),
filter your water using a washing machine filter such as the one from PlanetCare,
and by clean your indoor air (dusting, ventilating, changing AC filters) since microplastics accumulate in the air.
So what should my friend do? Exercise naked?
Honestly, it is technically the safest option. But if that’s not socially acceptable where you live, here are some suggestions :
Learn about the different types of textiles used in fashion so you know how to read labels. Just because something is for sale, doesn’t mean it’s safe for you to wear (sadly).
Buy activewear from companies which use at least 90% natural fibers (ex: cotton, linen, wool, hemp, silk, jute) and only 10% or less of synthetics. Here is a list of brands I recommend.
If you prefer to shop secondhand, buy activewear (could be natural, synthetic or recycled) from your local thrift shops & consignment stores. Just be sure to follow the steps above to limit your exposure to microplastics.
Thoughts? Are there brands you like? Please share below.
Xx
Hannah
PS for further reading:
https://www.thegoodtrade.com/features/synthetic-fabric-plastic-pollution/
https://www.wellandgood.com/petroleum-based-fashion-impact/
https://goop.com/wellness/health/do-your-workout-clothes-contain-endocrine-disrupting-microplastics/
https://ceh.org/what-you-need-to-know-about-bpa-in-clothing/
https://ceh.org/latest/news-coverage/do-your-workout-clothes-contain-endocrine-disrupting-microplastics/
https://toxicfreefuture.org/toxic-chemicals/phthalates/
https://thefiltery.com/natural-workout-clothes-organic-activewear/#your-lululemon-leggings-are-made-out-of-oil
https://www.treehugger.com/are-synthetic-fabrics-sustainable-5209048
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/laundry-is-a-top-source-of-microplastic-pollution-heres-how-to-clean-your-clothes-more-sustainably
https://www.patagonia.com/climate-goals/
