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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/16/smar****ch-bands-pfas-study
Just read this, apparently some smar****ch bands have high levels of harmful "forever chemicals" in them. May be swapping out the silicon band on my new Garmin Epix2...
Peaslee said watches with silicone bands are a safer alternative.
You perhaps need to stop drinking water too.. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/16/the-forever-chemical-hotspots-polluting-england-drinking-water-sources?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
The presence of these chemicals is nothing particularly new, they’re present in lots of items, used in the production of various items including non stick products and also firefighting foam. It’s a bit like asbestos, the risks were known but everything carries on as normal and objectors and scientists are vilified and attacked, big business keeps on producing whilst in denial then when evidence and pressure becomes too great they will cave in and go bust leaving pain and misery behind and the public purse to pay.
Near bottom of the Guardian article it says "Peaslee said watches with silicone bands are a safer alternative" so Garmin silicone straps are okay?
Silicone isn't a PFAS (well unless it is fluorosilicone).
Some watch straps were manufactured from fluoropolymers (the higher density makes you think 'quality') but I must admit I thought they'd stopped doing this years ago.
Worth being aware there are some uses of fluoropolymers really are essential to modern life (watch straps aren't one of them!).
For interest if you ever used Krytox lubricants on your bike chain or your skis, you've been introducing PFAS into the environment...
This links to the Green Oil stuff posted in the Christmas Hoy thread, but we could do with more information from the study on what concentrations the products will expose you to and whether that's above the threshold that they'll cause problems. If there's 0.01ug/kg of PFAS in the bands, and the safe threshold for what a human can be exposed to through the dermal exposure pathway is 5ug/kg then there's nothing to worry about.
I appreciate with PFAS it's not that clear cut, as they accumulate but they can leave your body too.
I would imagine reading the paper is probably bad for you.
" It’s a bit like asbestos"
Really? Killing many people in their 50s?
I don’t have any plastic straps, silicon or otherwise, on any watches. I bought a dive watch years ago with one, and after a while my wrist started to turn red and sore and the skin started to peel off. I couldn’t change the strap because it wasn’t a conventional fitting, so the watch is still sitting in its box somewhere upstairs.
I have a couple of G-Shock ‘CasiOak’ watches, that I wear all the time, but only after I removed the silicone strap, fitted an adapter and I now use woven nylon ‘Loop’ straps similar to those fitted to the Apple Watch - the main difference being mine are around £12, the Apple ones are £99…
The ‘Loop’ straps are amazingly comfortable, I barely notice I have a watch on any more. Amazon do them in a load of different colours, but you need the adapter to fit a conventional watch.
This is another knock-off of one of the Apple Watch straps, which works just as well, but I prefer the woven variety above.
To be fair, if you decorate your wrist with a monstrosity like that.... 😉
Appears Garmin are well aware of unpleasant chemicals. Silicone should be PFAS free anyway. My Gore-Tex trousers on the other hand...leaching PFAS into the environment and all over me as I cycle along...lucky to be alive!
@wheelsonfire1 IDs some other concerns that might feature in your risk assessment.
I suppose eliminating a local contact source is under your control and aligned with ALARP principles so go for it if it gives you succour.
more troubling is that PFAS is yet another ‘old story’ that keeps more pervasive, harmful, and reducible sources of local and general pollution out of the cleansing light of publicity.
Hmm I work in the Automotive industry and 'we' are currently working toward removing PFAS chemicals from all of our products.
Watchstraps, while relevant to this group, are probably one of the lesser sources for these chemicals ;o)
In a similar vein, I read this yesterday morning https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jan/16/bloodletting-recommended-for-jersey-residents-after-pfas-contamination and was just blown away. Like what in the medieaval, criminally neglectful world...?
Ok so yes they may contain pfas but are they going to do you any harm? probably not. The reference to asbestos is scaremongering. These plastics are really good at what they do. many are totally inert and last a very very long time (hence the forever chemicals thing) The issue is how they are used. We are going through a process of banning them im many industries. The issue is there is no viable alternative in many circumstances. Were talking about things like sealing fuel lines at low temperatures here not watch straps.
Youll probably find that there use is vast and in most things you come across in everyday life from frying pans to plumbing tape, water bottles to cooking utensils. Unless you are ingesting / inhaling them there is no real cause for concern afaik. The bigger issue and way to resolve this is to make the suppliers of products containing them responsible for the waste.
My reference to asbestos was to not to draw comparisons with the level of harm caused but the way that the harms were known many years ago and it takes many years for action to be taken to reduce risk. Asbestos was identified as hazardous in the twenties and thirties and yet was still in common use until being banned in 1999!
A more nuanced view of the possible issues:
To be fair, if you decorate your wrist with a monstrosity like that…
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