Brits may be unknowingly risking their health by wearing waterproof jackets made with ‘forever chemicals’.
Scientists have been warning for years about the dangers of perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
They are called ‘forever chemicals’ because they can linger in the environment for hundreds of years. They have been linked to everything from cancer and high cholesterol to infertility.
When PFAS enter the body, either through food and water that people eat and drink or by breathing polluted air, they can spread throughout the body into tissues and organs.
Now a social media influencer – known for his outdoor activity videos – has claimed that PFAS could be lurking in the popular Arc’teryx jackets.
This is despite the fact that the brand claims that the waterproof jacket tested contains a new PFAS-free material: ePE membrane.
“It’s a breakthrough in sustainability that we plan to bring to our entire line of GORE-TEX jackets by the end of 2025,” says the Canadian brand.
But hiking and outdoor influencer Steven Smith, who has more than 220,000 followers to his name mylifeoutdoors Instagram account, said he found “five different toxic PFAS chemicals” after testing the jacket for 24 hours.
Now a social media influencer – known for his outdoor videos – has claimed that PFAS could be lurking in the popular Arc’teryx jackets
Hiking and outdoor influencer Steven Smith, who has more than 220,000 followers on his mylifeoutdoors Instagram account, said he found ‘five different toxic PFAS chemicals’ after 24 hours of testing the jacket
In the video, he put the yellow jacket in a homemade machine that recirculated distilled water over the jacket for an entire day.
Tests on the water before the experiment confirmed that there were no traces of PFAS.
“The five different toxic chemicals shed the mantle, including 21 parts per trillion (ppt) PFBA” – one type of PFAS, he said.
“This jacket is made of toxic chemicals called PFAS,” he added.
Among the other four chemicals was 0.65 ppt PFOA – another type of PFAS, he claimed.
According to Arc’teryx, this should have disappeared from their clothing in 2016.
MailOnline has contacted Arc’teryx for comment.
The government said in February it was considering restricting the use of PFAS in consumer products under the UK’s REACH regulations for chemicals because they could be dangerous.
In Britain, other popular outdoor clothing brands Páramo and Finisterre say they do not use PFAS in their products, while Fjällräven, Alpkit, Lowe Alpine and Patagonia are largely PFAS-free.
They and more than a dozen other companies say they will stop using PFAS next year.
However, in June, research by Ethical Consumer showed that more than 8 in 10 outdoor clothing brands were still using PFAS to make outdoor clothing.
The campaign magazine said that of the 27 companies it assessed, 82 percent had products containing this class of chemicals.
Nearly half of all companies also had no phase-out date for their use of PFAS, Ethical Consumer claimed.
Famous for their durability and stain-resistant properties, PFAS are used in a wide range of products, from nonstick cookware to clothing, packaging, cosmetics and even children’s toys.
But industries are now moving away from it due to its harmful effects.
PFAS has previously been linked to kidney cancer, prostate cancer and breast cancer, among others.
While these links are not definitive and research is still being done, part of the concern stems from the fact that PFAS are so ubiquitous in modern life and persist in the environment for so long that they could infiltrate water supplies , which further increases exposure.