Chemicals in waterproofing tents has Greenpeace hopping mad.
CAMPERS and other lovers of the outdoors are being urged to shun products that contain harmful chemicals used in waterproofing.
A campaign is targeting products that use PFCs, or per- and poly-fluorinated chemicals, after Greenpeace tested 40 commonly used outdoor items, including jackets, backpacks, tents and sleeping bags, and found only four were free of the substance.
The synthetic chemicals have been commonly used since the 1950s in products including sunscreen, fire retardants and non-stick cookware.
They are slow to break down and are now present everywhere from polar bears’ livers to babies’ umbilical cords.
Greenpeace detected harmful “ionic PFC” — called PFOA — in 11 samples at levels higher than the EU limit.
Professor Mariann Lloyd-Smith, a senior adviser at the Australian National Toxics Network, said PFOA had been found to cause cancer of the kidneys and testes, and could affect thyroid hormones.
It was being considered for global elimination under the Stockholm Convention.
“Most living things on the planet today have PFCs in their blood, bones and fat. The problem is PFOA in particular is very long-lived in the body,” Professor Lloyd-Smith said.
“The best way to get it out of your body is to breastfeed, which is quite tragic, because it builds up in breast milk. Babies are born with these chemicals in their umbilical cord blood.”
In its research, Greenpeace found high concentrations of PFOA in a North Face sleeping bag, Mammut backpack, Jack Wolfskin trousers, and Haglofs shoes.
Greenpeace’s “Detox Outdoor” campaign spokeswoman Mirjam Kopp said the results were disappointing.
kathryn.powley@news.com.au
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