La Sportiva goes in the PFC-free direction

According to the fact that the PFCs and in this special case PFOAs do have toxic and carcinogen characteristics, for La Sportiva it is the main goal to go in the direction of not just simply try to use fabrics that are within the critical value of 1µg/m2, but to go in the direction of PFC-free fabrics (no C6 and no C8 used). Beside this, the fact, that PFCs are not biodegradable and will stay forever, either in the environment or in the human body supports our mission to go for PFC-free products/ fabrics even more. As the first step in the direction of sustainability is to stop producing long lasting or endless waste.

Based on characteristics REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) put PFOA in 2013 on the list for alarming substances (SVHC). By 2014 Norway released the legal critical value of 1µg/m2, as first European country. And there will be many other country following the example of Norway. C6 and C8 are the terms that are quiet often used by fabric suppliers and among the Outdoor community, but what is actually the difference, and moreover is C6 PFOA-free? Basically „C" is the chemical shortcut for carbon and „6" or „8" are giving information about the quantity of carbon molecules inside the polymere.

This means C6 is closely related to C8 (PFOA) but has 2 carbon molecules less, but the the characrteristics stay the same. So in the end no matter if you go with C6 or C8, both are carcinogen and toxic and not biodegradable. This means PFOA or C8 is not the same as C6, so if you ask for PFOA-free treatment, you will be offered C6 treatment. Therefore for the future the communication should no longer be PFOA-free but PFC-free!!!!