Hazardous fluorocarbons is often used in casual wear – Swedish Radio

Hazardous fluorocarbons is often used in casual wear, according to a new report from Greenpeace.

They continue to be used despite the fact that there are replacements.

There are replacements for these chemicals that repel dirt and water, yet they continue to be used. Annika Jacobson is the director of Greenpeace in Sweden.

– The irony is that the clothes are sold with messages of stunning natural scenery. It is obviously very twice when they cause the spread of the species in the wild, says Annika Jacobson, Head of Greenpeace Sweden.

Fluorocarbons, PFAS , is used to repel water and dirt in casual clothing and shoes. But they spread into the environment where they are not destroyed. We know that animals can get liver damage and impaired reproduction, and there are suspicions of risks to human health.

Greenpeace took samples of 40 leisure products from different manufacturers, clothes, shoes, tents and sleeping bags, among other things. The tests took place in several countries. Nine out of ten tested products contained the chemical, sometimes at high levels.

– It was above all a swipe from the Swedish Haglöfs which had very high levels of one of fluorocarbons, which are also regulated in Norway. The above posted limits of what is allowed to sell in Norway so the we have notified the Norwegian environmental authority. It contained 18 times the permitted limit.

In a written comment says Haglöfs’ sustainability manager to boot withdrawn from the shops and the material replaced. Norway has limits that are not EU countries.

But it is several years since the first reports came of these chemicals in casual wear. Although there are alternative means continues, many manufacturers use them.

– why should these be banned. But it takes a long time, for there are very many topics we talk about in this group who are at risk to have these effects. So we ask companies to take responsibility themselves and go there and do not use hazardous chemicals without the use of safe alternatives available on the market.

Annika Digréus
annika.digréus@sverigesradio.se