Are You Wearing Clothes Made With BPAs?

Our stores are filled with clothes made from BPA plastics, specifically recycled plastic bottles. Some of us wear them every day. Studies show when BPAs are heated, even by body temperature, they release toxic chemicals. Our skin could be the source of our heaviest toxic burden, sourced from our BPA containing clothes, as it breathes in this toxicity.

Yet, few people want to change their warm clothes.

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Some people throw their hands up in the air and say things like, “Forget it, I’m not even going to try.” However, for those who are very sick, with severe autism, FPIES or PANDAS, there is no other option. Searching for new offenders is the only path to success.

This opens the concern regarding BPA plastics that make up our polyester or fleece clothing.

Our stores are filled with clothing made from recycled plastic bottles. The same people who are removing plastics from their lives, in an effort to remove damaging BPA toxins, an estrogen releasing toxin, may not be aware they are wearing the same plastic bottles as clothing.

Polyester used to be made from coal, air, water, and petroleum through a chemical reaction process between alcohol and an acid. Today it’s made mostly from plastic bottles.

Discovery News says, “When scientists conducted lab tests on more than 20 top-brand baby bottles along with more than 450 plastic food and beverage-packages, virtually all leached chemicals that acted like the hormone estrogen, even though many were free of BPA.”

The NIH (The National Institute Of Health) says, “More than 800 studies were published on the health effects of BPA between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s.” Further studies are ongoing.

In another publishing the NIH said, “BPA was found to migrate from polycarbonate water bottles at rates ranging from 0.20 to 0.79 ng per hour. At room temperature the migration of BPA was independent of whether or not the bottle had been previously used. Exposure to boiling water (100°C) increased the rate of BPA migration by up to 55-fold.”

No studies have been done on the leaching of these chemicals into our bodies through our largest organ, the skin.

The NIH published a study on, “Permethrin, an agricultural insecticide, applied to clothing in an effort to protect military personnel from infectious insects. “Leaching and/or absorption were evaluated, the presence of sweat, different fabric types, and the effects of prelaundering. Results showed that fabric treated with permethrin at a rate of 0.125 mg/cm2 lost the substance to the skin surface at an average rate of 0.49%/d. At the end of the 7-d exposures in rabbits, about 3.2% of the available permethrin had reached the skin, 2% having been recovered from excreta (absorbed) and 1.2% remaining on the skin surface.”

If chemicals from the fabric leaches into the skin, chemicals within the fabric itself could do the same.

 The biggest concern may be fleece pajamas where the material is pressed directly against the skin for an 8-hour stretch, under warm blankets. If the person is sick with the flu, including a fever, lying in bed holding in heat could be potentially more dangerous. 

Science Daily says, “Prior to boiling water exposure, the rate of release from individual bottles ranged from 0.2 to 0.8 nanograms per hour. After exposure, rates increased to 8 to 32 nanograms per hour.” 

As consumers we have choices. We can shop with our dollars being our voice. It is this author’s opinion, as no verifying tests are available, that polyester and fleece fabrics made from recycled plastic bottles should not be worn directly against the skin. Instead wear a long sleeve cotton shirt under the fleece or polyester fabric so there is a buffering layer between potential leaching BPA or other plastic toxins and the skin that absorbs these toxins.

Choosing clothing that sits directly on the skin should be sourced from organic cotton or bamboo if possible. Click here for a healthy choice of pajamas pants and top. Click here for bamboo.

Click here to watch a video showing how fleece is made from recycled plastic bottles.

To watch a “National Geographic” video on how polyester clothing is made from recycled plastic bottles click here.

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*Nourishing Plot is written by a mom whose son has been delivered from the effects of autism (Asperger’s syndrome), ADHD, bipolar disorder/manic depression, hypoglycemia and dyslexia through food. This is not a newsarticle published by a paper trying to make money. This blog is put out by a mom who sees first hand the effects of nourishing food vs food-ish items. No company pays her for writing these blogs, she considers this a form of missionary work. It is her desire to scream it from the rooftops so that others don’t suffer from the damaging affect of today’s “food”.