Let’s Talk Materials: Active Wear
Things we should & shouldn’t break a sweat over
Let’s Talk Materials is a series on AND I’VE BEEN SAYING THAT with a laser-focus on how clothes are made & how they affect our bodies and/or ecosystems. If you haven’t read the first one, covering knitwear + alpacas v. goats and sheep, you can find that breakdown here.
Hi baby gorgeoussss! It feels weird to be halfway through March without a post, but I was absolutely sick — ill, and not in a cool or twisted way — and uninspired. What more can ya do?
We are wrapping up the first leg of the year, and the eventual countdown to warmer weather is here. Daylight Savings Time, St Patrick’s Day, and the five million times I’ve seen influencers, Pinterest-ers and fashion ‘stackers alike show a lil more leg told me so! (Standing with them in solidarity) With this particular buzz about the urge to be hot and chaotic comes a caveat, and her name is Miss Get Back in the Gym.
Now, I’m not here to promote an outdated, toxic and frankly yawn-able ‘summer body’ story — if I was, I’d probably post a TikTok of my leg day routine instead. Whether you hit the weights or your local Pilates studio four times a week is none of my business…but I will absolutely make sure you care about your activewear. Today, we’re pulling back the curtain on the nefarious activities going on with our sports bra + 4 inch short sets.
RIGHT OFF THE BAT:
It’s shit. I know. It’s probably not even a surprise to you at this point! I’ve mentioned microplastics on this ‘stack before (quite literally been sayin that!) but it’s always a healthy reminder. From the jump, you gotta know most of us have been wearing plastic (polyester, rayon, blends of shit) for most of our active lives.
The two-part to this story of our athleisure/sports gear is about a) the plastic fibers that make up the garment and b) the chemicals used to treat or dye it. There are multiple points of the production of these clothes that could stand alone in its toxicity, but together are extremely harmful for us.
CHEMICAL WARFARE
In 2022, the Center for Environmental Health tested sports bras, leggings, athletic shirts and other activewear, finding high levels of the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in those sold by Athleta, PINK, The North Face, Nike and Patagonia, among others. BPA could have been used to produce polyester-spandex in their socks, or athletic gear, or even in treating the material. Even the B Corp brands are mixed in among the high-street giants on this one.
Why is that important? Research has found correlations between BPA exposure and infertility, brain and behavior disorders in infants and children, breast cancer, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), even acne. Really makes you think about how many women you know who is affected by any of these, and how it might be instigated by what we consistently wear…
BPA’s not the only one. There’s also lead, mercury and arsenic to contend with, which can be used in the dyeing process; and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of chemicals that are so persistent they’re known as “forever chemicals” and are often used in clothing for water and stain resistance.
Textile dyeing and finishing makes up approximately 20% of global clean water pollution. Mind you, the sector as a whole was the third largest source of water degradation and land use in 2020. According to the UN, an estimated 80-90% of wastewater globally goes BACK into the environment, untreated!
If all that about PFAS or water pollution doesn’t sound familiar, you might be one of the lucky ones! Immediately, my mind goes to Flint — a crisis that has yet to be solved — or even my hometown, which detected PFAS a few years back. We still don’t know the effects we’ll have from the contaminated water in the long run.
Most fashion brands do not know who is dying and finishing and manufacturing their materials. And those suppliers will be incentivized to do things as cheaply as possible, to get cheaper chemicals from uncertified sources that could be contaminated with heavy metals and other hazardous substances.
Alden Wicker, author of To Dye For
HORMONE MONSTERS
Apparently, sweat leaches chemical additives from plastics, and those chemicals are then available to be absorbed through our skin. The more you sweat, the more you absorb — according to California law, you can be exposed to 40x the safe limit in a matter of seconds. Contrary to what you may think, sweat wicking fabrics are often the ones treated with PFAS!! Super cool, thanks.
The study I’ve linked in the previous paragraph focused on brominated flame retardants (BFR), which are used to prevent burning in fabrics and are also linked to adverse health effects such as thyroid disease, hormonal disruption and neurological issues. Harmful chemicals in plastics bioaccumulate, so with repeated exposure we can have high concentrations of chemicals living inside us, for as long as somewhere between our situationships and our parent’s marriages.
These substances interfere with the body’s transmission of hormones, even mimicking them. By forcing their hand on our usual rhythms, our metabolism, energy levels, reproduction, development and mood change course. Do we even know what’s natural with our body anymore, with how often our sweat might leach these chemicals?
Below, some popular synthetic materials and how they affect our skin and overall health. As a sensitive skin girlie, I know a great deal of my skin issues are reactions to tight synthetic clothing & a combo of sweat and friction during physical activity. It’s important to know both their health risks as well as why that specific material creates the problem so we don’t make the same mistake twice when we’re shopping.
We’ve phased out a range of pesticides and chemicals like DDT in agriculture, but what about the stuff we put on our bodies every day? The difference between drugs and chemicals that we get exposed to via consumer products is that drugs have to be tested before they go on the market. Why hasn’t this practice applied to commercial goods? Here’s where we’re at with regulations:
REGULATIONS
With so many factors playing into our health — aging demographics, personal behaviors, diagnostic changes or environmental exposures— it can be difficult to nail just what is going wrong. But that doesn’t negate our clothing’s impact. According to The Guardian, scientists have accumulated enough data in recent years to conclude that humans face significant health risks from exposure to common commercial chemicals; and, that the regulations designed to protect them are failing.
People don’t realize that we actually encourage and even subsidize the production of tens of thousands of chemicals, while imposing essentially no requirements on manufacturers to test their safety. Nor do we ask whether we need the chemical, whether it’s useful, whether there are safer substitutes – or what it’s doing to the environment.
Wendy Wagner, attorney and professor at UT Austin
Unfortunate, but true: the plastic and toxins that live among us have been normalized. They may not be an immediate harm when standing alone, but these background actors have an additive effect. When microplastics are showing up in our food, PFAS seeps into our water, and we absorb chemicals that disrupt our natural hormonal patterns after a workout, we have to accept its unbearable weight on human (and environmental!) health.
Regulations around hazardous substances in clothing are lax in the US. At present, the main focuses are on flammability, clothes manufactured within the US, and lead and phthalates. California, which has some of the most stringent state laws on chemicals, only requires a label to identify clothing that has hazardous substances. All of these matter, of course, but they only cover so much legal ground; there’s still loads of work-arounds that leave a majority of clothing unchecked.
The EU, of course, is a little better. Many dangerous chemicals that have been used in textiles and footwear are banned or restricted, including certain azo colours, dye substances, and phthalates. Their REACH Regulation also sets thresholds for substances such as cadmium, chromium, arsenic, lead and phthalates used in textiles, forbidding them from footwear and sportswear. Clearly, the most difficult problem to cover in legislation are foreign-made exports, though if recent talks of banning fast fashion exports in France mean anything we may see a shift in the near future.
HOW TO SHOP BETTER
For starters, shop cotton! BPA has only been found in polyester/spandex active wear. Organic cotton in particular uses less water + eliminates the use of poisonous synthetic pesticides as it’s cultivated. There’s a shortlist from EcoCult with some good options you can peruse here.
Big ‘duh’ moment here, but avoid fast fashion brands — the obvious ones as well as the IG ad shopfronts that don’t even have their material composition or so much as an ‘About’ page. The bar is in hell, so let’s bring it up a few levels.
Look for labels like bluesign, Oeko-Tex and GOTS. These certifications and standards test against harmful chemicals or treatments that may exist during production or in the finished garments. You *should* be able to spot these mentioned in a garment description or material composition if they are in fact certified: you would brag too for a check!
Some new-fangled designs are worth the hype. Over and over again, TENCEL™ is that gurl!! This natural performance fiber is made from renewable wood pulp. I personally can confirm it makes things buttery-soft and breathable, too.
I’ve had the itch to add a new set to my trusty yet tattered collection of activewear, and since researching for this post I’ve had to scrap my original search and start over. But we aim high folks! See you in the free weights section soon.
Ryann x
Key Sources
Plastic-Free Activewear? Here are 12 Brands That Use Natural Instead of Synthetic Fibers
The impact of textile production and waste on the environment
Your workout clothes could be doing more harm than you realize
In our blood: how the US allowed toxic chemicals to seep into our lives
Hazard Limitations in Textiles by EU Rules
ICYMI
Last month, y’all really engaged with Girlhood is a Double-Edged Sword and Little Treats. Thank you!! Sometimes you don’t know what is going to resonate until you pry it away from your chest and out in the open.
If you’re looking for something similar on activewear, might I suggest:
Deep Dives Into Bad Guys: Adidas
And I’ve Been Saying That is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. My godmother used to give me Adidas tracksuits for Christmases and birthdays each year. I adore…
UP NEXT
You’re getting another Vibe Check at the end of this month with some additional media I’d like to draw your attention to. We will become a little eco-hive mind.
Keep an eye out for a new series title Take 5, my first guest series!!! I’m very excited for my first guest and to bring her to my community’s attention.
Thinking about how much I sweat in my chemical-packed activewear last week in hot pilates and sighing. Thanks for shining light on this! If you've got any great brands you'd recommend/like, would love to learn about them.
Reading this sent shivers down my spine. I knew the composition of activewear was bad, but I didn’t realize it was that bad. And I live in mine and sweat *a lot*. Knowledge is power, thank you for laying this all out for us.