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how-dangerous-are-lululemon-leggings

How Dangerous Are Lululemon Leggings?

hi I'm Dr Mike verovski a board certified Family Medicine doctor welcome to my new series Truth or Scare where I dive into the latest research and give you my take on the scariest most disturbing viral Health claims making news online this episode's claim that some pants from athleisure Brands including Lululemon are made from synthetic fabrics that are treated with toxic chemicals these chemicals are linked to serious health problems because when you work out they leech into your sweat and then become absorbed into your bloodstream Through Your Skin a few different kinds of chemicals are discussed in this specific scenario but I'm going to focus on the one type that's gotten the most attention pasas per and poly floro alkal substances are a large family of synthetic chemicals that have become increasingly controversial since their Inception and surprisingly some of these claims do have truth to them so let's dive in there are forever chemicals in the crotch region of Lululemon leggings these are pfas per floro alal compounds these chemicals are associated with hormone disruption with Cancers with thyroid kidney and liver damage and humans first it's true that past are bad for us they've been around since the 1950s and past manufacturers have known they're toxic since like the 60s there's decent evidence linking them to all sorts of health issues including multiple types of cancer infertility severe covid infections and developmental delays in children what makes past especially problematic is that their structure is not easy to break down both in our bodies and the environment which is why they've gotten the nickname forever chemicals there's even evidence of past Crossing and injuring the blood brain barrier which could allow for other chemicals to start causing neurologic Havoc as well second it's also true that past has been detected in workout clothing the most heavily cited evidence is in a 2022 report from mamavation a consumer Watchdog blog that publishes Eco Wellness Product Investigations for moms look this isn't the most credible Source around but studies from other sources have shown similar results mamavation used an unnamed third-party EPA certified lab to test past levels in 32 pairs of workout and yoga pants from Brands like lulao athita and of course Lululemon the investigation actually included two different styles of Lululemon pants and past were detected in one pair but but not the other but certain aspects of this entire claim need context workout clothing isn't particularly special here pasas have been widely used in many consumer products for decades because they're so effective at making materials resistant to water and stains they make rain jackets waterproof and prevent grease from leaking through in takeout containers they're in contact lenses lots of mascara and nail polish food packaging carpeting iPhone screens and so much more it's reasonable to say we all own past treated products but even if you manag to somehow Escape these products you're still being exposed to pest that's because the chemicals wind up in raindrops tap water soil and food because they're released into the environment during the manufacturing process and also when this past stuff ends up in landfills or goes through the laundry so because of usage in products for decades pasas are basically everywhere now and because they don't degrade for years like we said earlier they're going to be around with us for a while second it's certainly possible that pasts do leech out into sweat but there's no actual direct evidence yet to show this one study found that a different type of chemical in Plastics leeches out and based on those findings some experts say it might be reasonable to infer that pasas could do the same thing pasas exposure is a well-known risk factor for multiple diseases but what we don't know is what level of P exposure is required for those health risks and as I've said before it's the dose that makes the poison and we just don't have enough information about the level of past exposure that creates the actual health issue in fact a lot of what we know about the dangers of pasas comes from animal studies and in much higher doses than we're usually exposed to the strongest evidence in humans that P exposure has adverse health effects pertains to very high past Expos exposure for example people developed various serious medical problems multiple cancers kidney disease thyroid disorders and more after living near a Dupont manufacturing facility that made Teflon and other products with two pfast chemicals known to be especially toxic local water ended up being contaminated with Industrial Waste that contain exceedingly high levels of pasas the safe level for this chemical in human blood would be no more than 1.0 5 parts per billion at the time in the late 1990s the average level of that chemical being found in the general us population's blood was 30 times higher than that in Michigan there may be more than 11,000 locations contaminated with pasas and some residents have found their drinking water test as high as 76,000 parts per trillion when the epa's health advisory level is four parts per trilli BR and while those situations need to be evaluated especially seriously and companies need to be held liable most of us are not going to be exposed to that much past in fact most of us get a tiny amount on an ongoing basis while this may not cause an immediate health hazard increased exposure over time is not something we should desire the more pfast products that are manufactured and sold the greater the amount of past lingering in the environment hence entering our bodies so it is a true true legitimate Public Health concern the best way to reduce our Collective exposure to Pas is through broadscale changes we need to consider reducing the production and selling of past products in the US and honestly globally given that our environment is so interconnected what happens here usually happens there and what happens there happens here this will require stronger regulatory action as well as more companies voluntarily ditching past throughout the entire supply chain fortunately we're seeing some progress here numerous states have passed laws that ban the sale of certain products with pasas for example by 2025 California will ban pasas in most textiles Colorado will ban pasas in Furniture New York will ban most apparel containing pasas and Washington state will ban all apparel plus some other products treated with pasas national bans would certainly be more effective but they aren't in the picture right now the EPA regulates allowable levels of two especially toxic past chemicals in drinking water and has actually proposed doing the same for nine additional ones to be monitored as industry waste products but there are thousands of other unregulated pasas chemicals most companies have said that they've reduced or eliminated pasas from their products or have pledged to phase out their usage over the next few years one early adopter here Patagonia which began searching for alternative ways to waterproof jackets and other outdoor apparel like 15 years ago another company that more recently jumped down that bandet Lululemon the company said it was working with vendors to eliminate the use of pasas in all clothing by the end of last year in writing this video we actually reached out to Lululemon who confirmed they have phased out the use of pasas in all their durable water repellent products of course with p bands on the horizon in multiple large states going past free is as much a business strategy as a philosophical statement for many consumer Brands finally the amount of pasas found in Lulu panss was not alarmingly high it might be worrisome to think about the past being in the crotch of your Uber tight spandex pants but you don't need to freak out if you've been wearing those pants or other workout pants with comparable past levels we're being exposed to higher levels of peas through food and water rather than clothing in fact pasas are detected by testing for a proxy chemical Florine while the leggings contain a detectable amount of Florine it was still a very small amount on its own this exposure is not likely to have a measurable impact on your health the problem with past is that they're all over not that they're just in one specific product ultimately your exposure to past is not fully within your control and the impact of your own consumer choices is still unclear when it comes to your health there are certain things that you can focus on that will be highly likely to bring about benefit or decrease risk but putting a tremendous amount of focus on past seems a bit premature but but but but but I will say it's not unreasonable to avoid peas exposure by buying products without these chemicals when you can on a scale of 0 to 10 on my Truth or Scare scale this claim gets a 5.5 there's actually legitimate risks to wearing certain other clothes click here to check that out and as always stay happy and healthy [Music]

Dr.

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