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URV scientists alert the risk of continued use of polyester clothing

URV scientists alert the risk of continued use of polyester clothing

Continued use of clothing made of polyester can be dangerous for health.This forceful is the warning made by scientists of the Research Group of the Center for Food and Toxicological Environmentbrand, and find that many of them contain metals that in contact with the skin can be toxic.“The most significant case is that of polyester clothes, especially soccer or running shirts, where we have found antimony, a substance that in continuous contact with the skin, day and night, can cause irritations and allergies and be absorbedFor the agency ”, at risk of causing problems in the gastrointestinal tract and in the reproductive system, researcher Joaquim Rovira, a member of Tecnatox, explains at the forefront.And remember that antimony trioxide is classified as a possibly carcinogenic metal by the International Cancer Research Agency (IARC).

As indicated by URV toxicology experts, in some garments - especially in sports shirts - the presence of antimony exceeds the legal levels allowed."Antimony oxide is used as a catalyst to make polyester fibers and can be impregnated in them and become part of the tissue and clothes you wear," says Rovira.

The antimony can affect the skin, create gastrointestinal problems and is considered carcinogenic

Científicos de la URV alertan del riesgo del uso continuado de ropa de poliéster

But this is not the only toxic metal they have found in the clothes we wear.Throughout three jobs have studied almost a different trend."In black polyamide garments, high chrome levels from dyes have been observed, although we do not know if it is chrome III or Chrome VI, which is carcinogenic," says Rovira.And in green, blue or brown garments their works have detected high copper levels."We have also seen that silver nanoparticles are added to antifungal tissues and antiolor socks, and those particles can alter the microflora of the skin and end up causing other parasitic organisms to colonize it, causing allergies and infections," adds the researcher.

On the other hand, it emphasizes that during their analysis they have not found any association between the levels of garments and their place of manufacture or the fact of belonging or not to a brand of recognized sportswear."We have found levels higher than allowed in garments that carry the label of being made in the EU, perhaps because the fabric they were prepared had previously manufactured outside," says Rovira.

And it emphasizes that if something makes this work of the Tecnatox group - in addition to Rovira, the researchers Martí Nadal, Josep Lluís Domingo and Marta Schuhmacher participated - is that the people “we are exposed, through the skin, to a cocktail of additives appropriateof the textile industry ”without knowing the effects of some of these compounds on health.

In upcoming lines of study, this group of researchers is planned.The objective, again, will be to identify what effect it has on the microflora of the skin The continuous exposure to these additives.

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