I have read that many apple iwatch bands have toxic chemicals. I currently wear the one that came with the iwatch 9 which uses velcro and it's like a strong cloth. does anyone know if this has those bad chemicals?
[Re-Titled By Moderator]
Apple Watch Series 9, watchOS 11
What you've read is misleading. These reports all seem stem from one study that analyzed a selection of bands for smartwatches, a selection which apparently included some from Apple. But the study did not list details of the specific bands tested and failed to mention how much if any PFAS chemicals were detected in the Apple bands they tested. So the reports are at best inconclusive and at worst causing unnecessary panic.
But if you are concerned, stick with a metal or silicone watchband.
Regards.
iron194 wrote:
Hi I would recommend bands without the silicone bc they probably don’t have the chemicals
Everything has chemicals. In fact, you are full of chemicals. If you weren't, you wouldn't exist.
See page 1 of the thread.
I agree with your assessment.
SuppaMario79 wrote:
So what you telling us is, in other words, we should trust Apple, because they would not charge us hundreds of pounds/dollars for a product that could cause us cancer. People being informed of what they put on their bodies or their kids bodies isn’t panicking, it’s just common sense. Wouldn’t it be lovely if these companies had their customers best interest at heart? Apple have been aware of these issues for a few years now and stated that they were phasing out the products with the PFAs but to this day, no change. I’m seriously rethinking sticking with Apple products, that me, my wife, my kids and most of my family used religiously for many years. I guess you must never have had cancer or you wouldn’t say that people are panicking for no reason. Are you a shareholder?? Fkin joke
It's much more along the lines of the study is as of yet, inconclusive as to any real world evidence. So, yes. There is a lot of unnecessary panic if one is looking for conclusive evidence in the aforementioned study. Don't use the bands if you elect.
published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters
has found that smartwatch bands made of fluoroelastomers contain a very
high concentration of a forever chemical known as perfluorohexanoic
acid (PFHxA).
See "fluoroelastomer" in the Sport Band ad on the apple.com website under watches. . . bands
Hi @LD150...I don't have access to the study, so can you elaborate on the extraction point...because it's a key point. In other words, everyone knows PFAS are bad for the environment, bad for health, etc. Apple has a program in place to eliminate PFAS from its products, as do many other brands. That's all fine.... But with regard to this specific topic of PFAS leaching out of the watch bands and into humans while they wear them, are you saying that the study said the PFAS from the bands was measured ONLY after being extracted from the band with solvents??? In other words, this study did not measure PFAS leaching from the bands in a latent way from just wearing the bands, is that correct? It measured chemical extraction of PFAS? If they were only able to measure the PFAS after extracting them from the bands with chemicals, then the concern of the average wearer on a day to day basis is quite different and/or maybe even non-existent.
They simply cannot because their products contain PFOA. It is impossible to say something different.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22047163/
they wrote:
In vitro dermal penetration studies also demonstrated that PFOA permeates both mouse and human skin.
These data suggest that PFOA is dermally absorbed and that under certain conditions the skin may be a significant route of exposure.
In this study, it seems that it is not necessary to use solvent.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22047163/
they wrote:
In vitro dermal penetration studies also demonstrated that PFOA permeates both mouse and human skin.
These data suggest that PFOA is dermally absorbed and that under certain conditions the skin may be a significant route of exposure.
Daxrob wrote:
In this study, it seems that it is not necessary to use solvent.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22047163/
they wrote:
In vitro dermal penetration studies also demonstrated that PFOA permeates both mouse and human skin.
These data suggest that PFOA is dermally absorbed and that under certain conditions the skin may be a significant route of exposure.
Do you have access to the actual article? Or just the abstract cited on PubMed? Without access to the entire article, it's impossible to gauge the quality or relevance of the research findings. It's a murine study. That means it may or may not apply to humans. My university library doesn't have access to that journal and I'm not going to pay $64 for the article. It was also published over 10 years ago in a journal with a fairly low impact factor.
Tbh I wanted to change my watch band too since it broke literally after 4 months of usage and it’s always been VERY uncomfortable on my wrist. The price of a sport loop like the Nike one is too much so im kinda stuck
MooneyBrendan wrote:
Does this apply to 10th generation watches? I’m using a rubber strap, was the supposed chemicals coming from the Velcro straps?
From what I was able to read in the very preliminary study, it was unclear what watchbands they used.
If you are concerned, by a different kind of watch band. There are hundreds of bands available for Apple Watches.
I would say yes as the basic sports band use the mentioned rubber material. I am looking for a replacement for my watch 10 band as my skin has broken out in rash, skin peeling and burning. I do have sensitive skin so may have zero to do with pfos but may have everything to do with it leaching.
My suggestion If you have not gotten the watch yet is the get it with a different band material (steel of nylon) or replace your current band if you already got the watch 10.
Proeteus wrote:
I do have sensitive skin so may have zero to do with pfos but may have everything to do with it leaching.
Things don't need to "leach" to cause an allergic reaction. Lots of skin allergies are contact allergies. Brush against poison ivy, get a rash.
If you have sensitive skin, be very careful to take the watch off and clean the band regularly. Sweat, soap, lotion and other things in your environment can get trapped under the band and then held against your warm, moist skin. You might also want to look for some of the more breathable bands.
Oh, wow! A reasonably priced version of the Milanese loop. Very nice!
I find I like the textile band that came with my Watch 10 very much. It uses velcro and it stays put. Also, it doesn't have any metal to scratch my MBP when I'm typing. But I do like a metal band for fancy.
I like these
Apple Watch Bands safe from toxic chemicals
