Greenpeace Finds Hidden Hazardous Chemicals In Outdoor Gear
Greenpeace selected 40 pieces of outdoors gear from a variety of outdoor gear companies to be tested for PFCs (hazardous chemicals used to make outdoor gear such as jackets or tents waterproof and dirt resistant). They tested...
- 11 jackets
- 8 trousers
- 7 pairs of shoes/footwear
- 8 backpacks
- 2 tents
- 2 sleeping bags
- 1 rope
- 1 pair of gloves.
Greenpeace sampled products from Columbia, Jack Wolfskin, The North Face, Arc'teryx, Vaude, Haglöfs, Mammut, Patagonia, Salewa, Blackyak, and Norrona. Out of the 40 items, only four were PFC free!
While there are no known direct health risks with skin-to-material contact, animal studies provide evidence that some PFCs cause harm to reproduction, promote the growth of tumours and affect the hormone system. PFCs break down very slowly and future generations will in turn be exposed to contaminated water, air and food. Greenpeace has already found these pollutants in secluded mountain lakes, snow from remote locations, as well in the livers of polar bears in the Arctic.
Greenpeace is asking you e-mail/tweet/Facebook a message to your favourite outdoor brands in an effort to have them switch to a less invasive process (many do exist). Many hope to phase out PFCs by 2020, but Greenpeace is asking for them to move up their timeline in an effort to do better.
