Be careful when choosing products! These sportswear brands are exposed to excessive levels of carcinogens!

Recently, the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), a US consumer watchdog group, said that high concentrations of bisphenol A have been found in an increasing number of sports bras and sportswear brands. Bisphenol A, a compound used to make certain types of plastics, can cause harmful health effects such as cancer, asthma, cardiovascular disease and obesity.

CEH said it had sent legal notices to eight brands after tests showed the clothing they sold contained levels of BPA up to 40 times the safety limit.

The sportswear brands and products tested include leggings from Athleta, Champion, Kohl's, Nike and Patagonia, sports bras from Sweaty Betty, sports shirts from Fabletics, and shorts from Adidas, Champion and Nike.

Under California law, specifically Proposition 65, which was enacted in 1986, the maximum allowable dose of BPA through skin exposure is 3 micrograms per day.

In response to the allegations, an Athleta spokesperson said in a statement: "As a certified B-Corp, Athleta is deeply committed to ensuring that all of our products meet applicable safety standards, and we believe CEH's claims are without merit."

Prior to this, Athleta had also sent legal notices to several other sports companies and alerted consumers to the problem. In October last year, CEH warned consumers that after six months of testing, they found that sports bras from brands such as Athleta, PINK, Asics, The North Face, Brooks, All in Motion, Nike and FILA may contain up to 22 times the safety limit for bisphenol A.

Also in October, the organization tested sports shirts from brands including The North Face, Brooks, Mizuno, Athleta, New Balance and Reebok and found similar results.

CEH sent legal notices to the companies, requiring them to cooperate with the center within 60 days to correct the violations. When they failed to do so, it filed another lawsuit against the companies in February this year.

"People absorb BPA through ingestion, eating foods or drinking water from containers containing BPA, or through skin contact," Kaya Allan Sugerman, director of the Illegal Toxic Threats Program at CEH, said in a statement.

"Studies have shown that BPA can be absorbed through the skin and eventually enter the bloodstream after just a few seconds or minutes of contact with receipt paper. Sports bras and shirts are worn for hours at a time and you sweat while wearing them, so finding such high levels of BPA in our clothing is concerning," added Kaya Allan Sugerman.

In the past year, CEH has asked more than 90 companies, including Walgreens and sock and sleepwear brand Hypnotic Hats, to remake their products to remove all bisphenols, including BPA.

Editor ✎ Nicole/

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