Staples from your bathroom or your first aid kit are now associated with PFAs, also known as forever chemicals.
The good news? About one-third of the brands tested did not contain PFAS. This means that it’s clearly possible to make bandages without PFAs – and avoid the ones that contain the toxic substances, if you do a little bit of research before buying.
The most famous Johnson and Johnson brand and the name we use for most of these bandages, Band-Aid, was found to contain forever chemicals known as PFAs. The really bad news? Most band-aids and bandage brands have PFAs, according to the research that recently went viral.
A published by Mamavation.com was picked up by most major news outlets. It claims that many brands of bandages contain PFA chemicals, which, if they come in direct contact with open wounds, are linked to cancer.
Four types of bandages from Band-Aid had over 180 parts per million organic fluorine, and Thinx Underwear and other period products were found to contain tens to over 100 parts per million of the compound, which is a component of PFAS or so-called ‘forever chemicals.’
Mamavation and Environmental Health News used an EPA-certified lab to search for PFAS chemicals in pads and bandages sold at major retailers like Walmart, Target, CVS, or Rite Aid, as well as on Amazon.
(FIY and PSA: Don’t buy anything like this on Amazon because fakes are a huge business, especially for personal care products).
Linda Birnbaum, a former senior Environmental Protection Agency official who Mamavation’s findings, said they’re “wake-up call” for brands, especially since it is possible to make bandages without PFAs.
So, what are the brands they looked at and which ones are problematic? Unsurprisingly, a brand can have both PFA-free and PFA-ladden products, and that includes Bandaid.
Here’s the two lists you have to keep in mind the next time you shop at a farmacy.
Pads and bandages with PFAs / forever chemicals
DailyMai comes with the worst news here, quoting both this report and previous ones.
“Period underwear are far from the only menstrual products laden with PFAS. A separate series of lab analyses in 2020 and 2022 by Mamavation and Environmental Health News looked at 46 different sanitary pads, panty liners, and incontinence pads for evidence of PFAS,” writes the outlet. Fluorine was detected in 22 of them, or 48 percent of the products they looked at.
The situation looks just as alarming for first-aid bandages as well. Here are the bandages with high PFAs levels according to Mamavation:
- Band-Aid Flexible Fabric Comfortable Protection Bandages (older sample that was likely 7-8 years old and not available in stores anymore) — 188 ppm organic fluorine on absorbent pad
- Band-Aid OURTONE Flexible Fabric BR45 Bandages — 262 ppm organic fluorine on absorbent pad
- Band-Aid OURTONE Flexible Fabric BR55 Bandages — 250 ppm organic fluorine on absorbent pad.
- Band-Aid OURTONE Flexible Fabric BR65 Bandages — 260 ppm organic fluorine on absorbent pads and 374 ppm on the sticky flaps.
- Care Science Antibacterial Flexible Fabric Adhesive Bandages — 328 ppm organic fluorine on the sticky flaps
- Curad Assorted Bandaids 4-Sided Seal — 140 ppm organic fluorine on the sticky flaps
- CVS Health C60 Flexible Fabric Antibacterial Bandages — 201 ppm organic fluorine on absorbent pad
- CVS Health C70 Flexible Fabric Sterile Bandages — 124 ppm organic fluorine on absorbent pad and 272 ppm on the sticky flaps
- CVS Health C80 Flexible Fabric Antibacterial Bandages — 128 ppm organic fluorine in absorbent pad
- Equate (Walmart) Flexible Fabric Bandages Antibacterial — 118 ppm organic fluorine on absorbent pad and 165 ppm on the sticky flaps.
- Equate (Walmart) SKIN TONE Antibacterial Bandages Flexible Fabric (darkest shade) — 197 ppm organic fluorine on the absorbent pad and 251 ppm on the sticky flaps
- Equate (Walmart) SKIN TONE Antibacterial Bandages Flexible Fabric (medium to dark shade) — 112 ppm organic fluorine on the absorbent pad
- Equate (Walmart) SKIN TONE Antibacterial Bandages Flexible Fabric (medium to light shade) — 120 ppm organic fluorine on the absorbent pad
- First Honey Manuka Bandages — 157 ppm organic fluorine on the sticky flaps
- Rite Aid First Aid Advanced Antibacterial Fabric Adhesive Bandages — 101 ppm organic fluorine on the absorbent pad and 181 parts per million (ppm) in the sticky flaps.
- Solimo (Amazon Brand) Flexible Fabric Adhesive Bandages — 104 ppm organic fluorine on the sticky flaps
- UP & UP (Target) Flexible Fabric Bandages — 256 ppm organic fluorine on the absorbent pad and 253 parts per million (ppm) on the sticky flaps.
“Ten parts per million is the limit of detection, and that’s a large amount,” explained Terrence Collins, professor of chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University and one of the scientists involved in the study. “We know that with endocrine disruption, there is no safe dose. They fiddle with hormonal control.”
Pads and bandages without PFAs / forever chemicals
- 3M Micropore Surgical/Medical Tape — non-detect organic fluorine
- All Terrain Neon Kids Bandages — non-detect organic fluorine in the absorbent pad and sticky flaps of bandage.
- Band-Aid Hello Kitty Assorted Adhesive Bandages — non-detect organic fluorine in the absorbent pad and sticky flaps of bandage.
- Welly Good Vibes Bravery Badges
- Welly Waterproof Bravery Assorted Waterproof Bandages
Also, it’s worth noting that a lot of TRU Color skin tone bandages in various shades did not test positive for PFAs.
To be on the safe side, we recommend always checking this list of the best bandages before purchase.
Lead photo by Tara Winstead
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