Users of indoor climbing walls may be breathing in toxic rubber dust linked to CANCER

Indoor climbers may be at risk for cancer and other diseases.

A study has found that the air in popular indoor climbing wall facilities is loaded with potentially toxic rubber particles.

Scientists took air samples from two climbing gyms and dust samples from these and two other facilities.

The concentrations of some rubber particles drifting through the air exceeded those in several megacities around the world.

The researchers sampled climbing shoes, the powder left on the footrests, the air in the climbing halls and the dust that had settled around the facilities.

The team of scientists found nine of the fifteen debris particles they tested for in air samples and twelve of the fifteen in dust samples.

The substances are not all carcinogenic; most can cause headaches, dizziness, respiratory irritation, and skin irritation.

But one of the chemicals detected, benzothiazole, has been linked a higher risk of bladder cancer among factory workers.

Rubber is an important part of any good climbing shoe. It gives the shoes optimal friction when climbing and provides the wearer with flexibility and the right amount of stiffness to gain grip where needed and maintain their shape.

But with every climb and every footpeg, particles of the rubber in the shoes — the same kind that makes car tires — are released into the air and onto the footpegs themselves.

Many climbers have brushes for their climbing holds, which worsens the situation by continually releasing pollutants into the air, which people inhale and then swallow.

Researchers from the University of Vienna took samples of the air, the soles of climbing shoes, the powder left on the footrests and settled dust around the facilities.

Concentrations of particulate matter in the air exceeded World Health Organization guidelines by about twenty times.

The WHO guidelines for indoor particulate matter concentrations are set at 45 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) for a 24-hour period. In the climbing gyms that the researchers visited, the concentrations of breathable particles ranged from 900 µg/m3 to 1,040 µg/m3.

Indoor wall climbing is a popular recreational activity. Actor Jason Momoa (pictured) has been a mountain climber all his life and took part in a climbing competition in Barcelona in 2016

They said: ‘(Chemical classes) PPDs and PPDqs concentrations in the respirable fraction were higher than those measured in Chinese megacities and comparable to roadsides and city centers in China during air pollution events.

‘Concentrations of (chemical) DPG, BTZ and 2OH-BTZ in aerosol samples (particulate matter) were one or two orders of magnitude higher than in 18 megacities worldwide and BTZ and 2OH-BTZ were up to ten times higher than concentrations from industrial environments. areas in Spain.’

Most of the rubber particles detected are known to cause irritation to the respiratory tract and skin. Some of them are well known toxic to fishwhile benzothiazole (BTZ) is a carcinogen in rodents.

After checking for concentrations of the fifteen different chemicals in air samples, where they discovered nine, and dust samples, where they discovered twelve, they examined climbing shoes and the supports they clung to.

They examined thirty different shoe soles from different brands and found one or more chemicals in all of them. One shoe showed traces of all 15 chemicals.

Overall, the concentrations of the chemicals in the shoes averaged 711 micrograms per gram of shoe sole material.

The researchers said: ‘With increasing urbanization worldwide, we expect to be able to live, work and play in safe indoor environments. Especially in indoor sports facilities, where breathing increases, air quality standards must be high and safe.

‘Rubber formulations containing potentially toxic (rubber-derived chemicals) should not be used in climbing shoes or other consumer products where increased human exposure is likely to occur.’

The team’s work, published on a pre-printserverhas not yet undergone the peer review process, so their findings can be interpreted with some caution for now.

At the same time, it is well documented that rubber additives used to make tires, some of which are also used in climbing shoes, run off the road and into the environment.

Tests conducted by Emissions Analytics, an engineering consultancy based in Britain, reported last year that tires produce roughly 2,000 times more particulate pollution by mass than exhaust pipes.