Yes, your clothes can impact your health. Intimate apparel often contains chemicals like PFAS, phthalates, and formaldehyde, absorbed through your skin daily. Choosing OEKO-TEX certified undergarments is the first step toward protecting your body from the inside out.
If you're just learning that clothing, especially intimate apparel, can expose you to harmful substances, you're not alone.
Fortunately, there’s a growing movement toward transparency and chemical safety in fashion. Brands like Vibrant Body Company are pioneering this shift with certified clean essentials.
Let’s break down what’s truly safe, and uncover the toxic truths hiding in your wardrobe. Keep reading to protect your body from the inside out.
Key Points
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Your clothes might be exposing you to toxins. Everyday garments, especially bras and underwear, can contain up to 8,000 chemicals, many of which are linked to hormone disruption, cancer, and fertility issues.
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Intimates and activewear pose the highest risk. These pieces sit on the body’s most absorbent areas, where sweat and friction increase the absorption of toxins like PFAS, formaldehyde, and phthalates.
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“Eco” and “organic” labels don’t guarantee safety. Without third-party certifications like OEKO-TEX®, many brands still use toxic dyes, softeners, and finishes, even on so-called sustainable fabrics.
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Vibrant Body Company offers a clean alternative. With Certified Clean materials and OEKO-TEX® testing, the EveryWear Bra and other essentials are designed to support your health, right at your First Layer.
Can Your Clothes Make You Sick? The Hidden Health Costs Of Fashion
Photo Source -> UCSF Earth Center
Everyday garments can contain up to 8,000 synthetic chemicals like PFAS, phthalates, formaldehyde, azo dyes, and flame retardants. And most brands don’t have to disclose a single one.
I’ve met too many women battling rashes, hormonal imbalances, or chronic inflammation, without ever suspecting their bra or underwear might be part of the problem.
These chemicals don’t just irritate your skin; they disrupt your endocrine system, with links to breast cancer, fertility issues, and long-term health risks.
Why Intimates And Activewear Pose The Highest Risk
Bras, underwear, and workout wear are the riskiest garments in your wardrobe because they sit on the most absorbent, heat-generating parts of your body, your breasts and groin.
Add sweat, movement, and friction into the mix, and you’ve got a perfect storm for chemical absorption. Dermal absorption increases exponentially when your skin is warm and your pores are open.
Now consider that most activewear is marketed with labels like “anti-odor,” “stain-resistant,” or “moisture-wicking.” Those perks are made possible by chemicals like PFAS (aka “forever chemicals”) and antimicrobial agents, many of which have been linked to liver damage, reproductive harm, and immune disruption.
Some of the biggest offenders are marketed as eco-friendly. That disconnect should make us all furious.
Can You Wash These Chemicals Out?
Here’s a myth that needs to end: just wash it and you’ll be fine.
If only it were that simple.
Most of the toxic residues in textiles aren’t surface-level, they’re chemically bonded into the fibers. Washing your clothes might get rid of dirt and odors, but the formaldehyde, phthalates, and PFAS? Those stay put.
Worse, when you do wash them, some of those chemicals enter the water system and persist in the environment for decades.
Watch out for labels that boast about being wrinkle-free, ultra-soft, or fire-retardant.
Those are marketing cues for chemical treatments. Clothing that smells “fresh” out of the bag, even after weeks on a shelf is probably loaded with synthetic fragrance and fixatives.
Want To Start Clean? Begin With Your First Layer
If you’re serious about cleaning up your closet, start with what touches your skin most: your undergarments. Your bra. Your underwear.
They rest on the most porous parts of your body, like your breasts and groin, and stay on the longestright where your lymphatic system works hardest.
That’s why undergarments aren’t just a style choice. They’re a health decision.
In the U.S., lax regulations mean toxic substances like formaldehyde, flame retardants, and hormone-disrupting chemicals are still commonly used in intimate apparel often to make fabrics feel soft or appear “clean.”
Meanwhile, those same substances have been banned or tightly restricted across Europe and Canada.
OEKO-TEX®: The Gold Standard For Safety
People ask me all the time if “organic” clothes are enough.
Not necessarily.
Organic cotton still goes through post-harvest processing. It can be bleached, dyed with toxic pigments, and treated with “softeners” that aren’t remotely safe.
And don’t get me started on recycled plastic, wearing a reprocessed water bottle isn’t a win for your health, no matter how good the marketing sounds. “Recycled” doesn’t equal “safe.”
That’s where OEKO-TEX® comes in. It’s one of the only globally respected certifications that actually tests textiles for toxic substances, over 100 of them. That includes PFAS, heavy metals, azo dyes, and formaldehyde.
When you see OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 on a garment, it means every thread, button, and label was screened. Not just the cotton. Not just the dye. Everything.
It’s not just a certification. It’s peace of mind.
Vibrant Body Company's Certified Clean Approach
Every product that Vibrant Body Company makes is Certified Clean. That means no foams, no underwires, no hormone-disrupting finishes.
Nothing that compromises your health for the sake of fashion.
We go beyond OEKO-TEX® by using their strictest standard, designed specifically for direct-to-skin items like bras and underwear.
When we say “clean,” we mean tested against flame retardants, phthalates, formaldehyde, BPA, and other high-risk substances.
It’s why we don’t use recycled polyester. It’s why we don’t greenwash. It’s why we never compromise on safety, because your first layer should be your safest layer.
Featuring The EveryWear Bra: Proof You Don’t Have To Choose
Seven years. Eighty prototypes. A patented design. All to create a bra that finally respects a woman’s body.
The EveryWear Bra doesn’t just skip the underwire, it replaces it with smart, patented construction that supports your shape without suffocating your lymphatic system.
No more wire cutting into your ribs. No more synthetic foams leaching chemicals onto your skin. Just breathable, certified clean fabric designed to move with you.
We built it because no one else would. And I mean this with my whole heart: If you must wear a bra, wear ours. Then take it off the second you’re home.
Because your First Layer should never work against your body. It should work for it.
Think A Bra Can’t Be Revolutionary? Think Again.
Why Clean Materials Matter For Your Health
I used to think a bra was just fabric and function, until I discovered what’s actually hiding in those fabrics.
Most women’s bras are made with synthetic foams, chemically treated fabrics, and hormone-disrupting additives:
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Formaldehyde to prevent wrinkles.
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Flame retardants for softness.
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PFAS for moisture control.
These toxins sit against your skin every day, right over some of your body’s most sensitive and absorbent areas.
That’s not just irresponsible, it’s dangerous.
The EveryWear Bra is my answer to that problem. This isn’t just about a better bra. It’s about putting your body first, finally.
Ready To Rethink What Touches Your Skin?
Clothing should support your health, not sabotage it. If you're ready for a clean start, here's where to begin:
🌿 EveryWear Bra: Our patented, wire-free bra that lifts, shapes, and supports, without toxins or metal.
💗First Layer Collection: Certified Clean bras, underwear, and tanks designed for your most sensitive skin.
🧘🏻♀️ Sweat Smart Collection: Activewear that works as hard as you do, without compromising your health.
Your skin is smart. Your clothes should be too.
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.
