Yes, leggings can contain toxic chemicals like BPA, phthalates, and PFAS that absorb into your skin, especially during sweat-heavy workouts. These substances are linked to hormone disruption, infertility, and cancer risk.
With growing evidence showing that toxic chemicals can leach from synthetic activewear into the body, especially through sweat and friction, it’s time we rethink what we wear to the gym and beyond.
At Vibrant Body Company, we believe your clothing should support your health, not compromise it. That’s why we created Comfortable and Certified Clean alternatives like our Endure Leggings, crafted with your comfort and well-being in mind.
Read on to learn how to avoid toxic fabrics, spot greenwashing, and choose activewear that works with your body, not against it.
Key Points
- Many leggings contain toxic chemicals like PFAS, BPA, and phthalates. These are often absorbed through the skin, especially during workouts, posing risks to hormone health, fertility, and even cancer development.
- Marketing terms like “eco-friendly” or “non-toxic” mean little without proof. To avoid hidden toxins, look for OEKO-TEX® or Certified Clean labels and steer clear of leggings made from synthetic or chemically-treated fabrics.
- Vibrant Body’s Endure Leggings offer a safe, high-performance alternative. Designed with toxin-free materials and tested down to the thread, they support your health while delivering comfort, breathability, and peace of mind.
Why Are There Chemicals in Leggings in the First Place?
Most leggings today are made from polyester, nylon, or spandex. These materials aren’t just synthetic, they’re petrochemical-based.
In plain speak? They're born from oil. And while that may sound like yesterday’s environmental problem, the health impact is today’s urgent conversation.
Now add to that the “features” that make leggings perform: anti-odor coatings, stain resistance, moisture-wicking finishes.
They’re chemical treatments, often invisible, often unregulated, and often absorbed by your skin, especially when your body heats up or sweats.
This is where the real trouble begins. These so-called performance finishes frequently contain:
- PFAS, the infamous “forever chemicals,” which never break down and have been linked to cancers and immune system damage.
- BPA, a plasticizer notorious for mimicking estrogen and disrupting hormones.
- Phthalates, typically used in elastic waistbands, now tied to fertility problems and endocrine disorders.
- Formaldehyde, used for wrinkle resistance, yes, the same chemical once used to embalm.
- And azo dyes, which give us those vivid colors but come with a side of skin reactions and potential carcinogenic risks.
Why are these chemicals in leggings? Because the apparel industry prioritized speed, stretch, and shelf appeal, not safety.
BPA, PFAS, phthalates, formaldehyde, and azo dyes are typical in synthetic leggings, used to make them flexible, wrinkle-resistant, and water-repellent.
But these same chemicals have been linked to hormone disruption, cancer, infertility, and immune dysfunction. And yes, they’re measurable in bloodstreams and even breast milk.
Once you understand how unregulated textile safety really is, especially in the U.S., it’s impossible to go back. And it’s just the beginning of what every woman deserves to know before stepping into her next pair of leggings.
The Silent Side Effects of Wearing Synthetic Leggings
What you put on your skin, especially for hours at a time, matters more than most people realize.
Your skin isn’t just a protective shell; it’s an active organ that absorbs. So when you slip into chemically-treated leggings made from polyester, spandex, or nylon, you're not just wearing fabric, you’re wearing ingredients.
Sweat and body heat make this worse. As your temperature rises, your pores open like tiny doorways, inviting in whatever’s sitting on your skin.
That includes PFAS, BPA, and other toxins often hiding in activewear. It’s the same mechanism that makes nicotine patches work, your body is wired to absorb.
And these chemicals? They don’t stay on the surface. They go in.
Long-Term Health Effects You Need To Know
Let’s put aside the vague buzzwords and focus on the real, researched risks:
- Skin Rashes & Irritation: Frequent complaints, especially from people sensitive to formaldehyde or synthetic dyes. That mystery rash on your thighs? It might not be your detergent.
- Hormonal Imbalance & Thyroid Disruption: Chemicals like BPA and phthalates mimic or interfere with your endocrine system, especially around the thighs, hips, and groin, areas rich in hormone receptor sites.
- Reproductive Harm & Fertility Concerns: Studies have linked PFAS and phthalates to decreased fertility, irregular cycles, and hormone-related complications. This is especially alarming for women in childbearing years.
- Increased Cancer Risk: Repeated exposure to carcinogens, like formaldehyde and PFAS, can contribute to long-term cancer risk, particularly breast and endocrine cancers. Think about how close leggings sit to breast tissue and lymphatic pathways.
And to the women reading this thinking, “But I only wear mine a few times a week”, remember, this isn’t just about how often you wear them.
It’s about how long they’re on your skin, where they’re sitting, and what they’re made of.
Because when the cost of convenience is your hormone health, your fertility, your peace of mind, that’s a price no one should be paying.
Buying Leggings? Here’s How To Avoid The Toxic Ones
Navigating the activewear aisle is like walking through a minefield of greenwashing.
Every brand says they’re “sustainable.” Every tag boasts “eco” this or “recycled” that. But when you peel back the layers, when you ask what’s actually in the fabric, you’ll often find a toxic cocktail hiding behind a feel-good marketing buzzword.
So how do you protect yourself?
Step 1: Look For Legitimate Certifications
If a brand isn’t willing to prove their safety claims, that’s your red flag.
- OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100: This is the gold standard. It means the entire product, from thread to tag, has been tested for over 100 known harmful substances. At Vibrant, we don’t just meet it. We built our entire product philosophy around it.
- GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard): This certification ensures that natural fibers are grown and processed responsibly. But remember: organic doesn’t always mean clean. Many organic cotton items still undergo toxic dye or finish treatments unless further certified.
Beware of terms like “non-toxic,” “green,” or “eco-friendly” with no proof behind them. These aren’t regulated terms.
Helpful resource -> Beyond Greenwashing: What ‘Clean’ Really Means in Fashion
Step 2: Choose Natural, But Wisely
Yes, natural fabrics like organic cotton, hemp, and TENCEL® are usually safer bets than synthetics. But even these materials can be chemically treated post-harvest.
That “bamboo” legging that feels soft? It may have gone through a chemical-intensive process to become rayon, stripping it of its original safety.
Look for Certified Clean designations or OEKO-TEX® on natural fiber products, not just the fiber source itself.
Step 3: Smart Wash & Wear Habits
Let’s say you’ve already got leggings you love, maybe they’re not certified, but you’re not ready to toss them. Here’s how to reduce your exposure:
- Wash before wearing: New clothes often carry “surface” chemicals, like finishes, dyes, or anti-mold sprays from shipping.
- Avoid high heat: Drying on hot can cause chemical off-gassing and increase skin exposure the next time you wear them.
- Limit extended wear: Don’t lounge for hours post-workout in your synthetic leggings. The longer the exposure, the more risk of absorption, especially when you’re still warm and damp.
Vibrant Body’s Endure Leggings – Certified Clean From Thread To Tag
When I founded Vibrant Body Company, it wasn’t to make just another pair of leggings.
It was to fill a dangerous gap the industry refuses to acknowledge: the lack of transparency and chemical safety in the very garments women wear closest to their bodies.
We created the Endure Leggings as part of our Certified Clean First Layer collection, a commitment not just to your comfort, but to your health.
Because let’s be honest: If your leggings are made from petroleum, soaked in PFAS, and stitched together with unknown dyes, it doesn’t matter how “moisture-wicking” they are. You deserve better.
What Sets Endure Leggings Apart?
- OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 Certified: Every thread, fiber, and dye is tested, not just the fabric roll. We go deeper than industry norms because your body deserves that level of protection.
- Engineered for performance without compromising your health: These leggings breathe, move, and support you, without synthetic finishes, anti-odor nanoparticles, or hormone-disrupting plasticizers.
- Designed to support your lymphatic health: With a non-restrictive fit and breathable construction, our leggings avoid the kind of compression that blocks lymphatic drainage, something most brands never even consider.
You don’t have to settle for less-than when it comes to what hugs your body day in and day out.
The Endure Leggings are proof that you can have high-performance gear and hold brands accountable to real safety standards.
Because clean isn’t just a buzzword around here, it’s a certified promise. And your First Layer should never be the most dangerous thing you put on all day.
It’s Time Your Leggings Did More Than Just Stretch
What you wear every day matters just as much as what you eat, what you breathe, and what you put on your skin.
Toxic leggings aren’t just a fabric problem; they’re a health problem.
And if you’re the kind of woman who checks ingredient labels on her moisturizer, buys organic produce, avoids hormone-disrupting plastics… but still pulls on synthetic leggings loaded with unregulated chemicals?
Then yes, you’re missing a massive piece of the wellness puzzle.
We started Vibrant Body Company because no one in the apparel industry was asking the most obvious and urgent question:
What happens when you wrap the most sensitive, porous parts of your body in toxic fabric, day after day?
For me, this wasn’t theoretical. After losing loved ones to cancer, I couldn’t ignore how unregulated and overlooked our First Layer truly is.
So we didn’t follow industry norms; we built a new standard from the inside out.
How We’re Reimagining Your First Layer
🧘♀️ Endure Leggings – Performance-ready and OEKO-TEX® certified. Designed for sweat, movement, and peace of mind.
🫧 Certified Clean Intimates – Wireless, worry-free support. No wires, no harmful chemicals, no compromise. Just smart, health-first design.
Your body deserves clean comfort. Your skin deserves certified safety.
You deserve better.
👉 Explore Certified Clean Activewear at Vibrant Body Company
And make your next workout the safest one yet.
About The Author: Michael Drescher, Founder of Vibrant Body Company.
An unlikely messenger in women’s health, he’s speaking truths the industry has long buried beneath sleek silhouettes at the expense of women’s health. After losing loved ones to cancer, he uncovered the toxic reality of intimate apparel and set out to create a truly health-first alternative. Michael’s work challenges assumptions about who gets to lead wellness conversations, blending radical transparency with science-backed design. He started Vibrant Body Company to rewrite the standard, because comfort shouldn’t come with a chemical cost, and health should never be an afterthought.
