Marmot stands by C6 for water-repellency - sportstextiles: Lea SportsTextiles

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Marmot stands by C6 for water-repellency

01/11/2012
In response to criticism from campaign group Greenpeace for its use of PFCs, outdoor brand Marmot has explained why it believes repellency finishes that use these chemicals can be effective, safe and environmentally friendly and why it will continue to use technology that contains PFCs in its durable water repellency (DWR) finishes.

In a statement released after Greenpeace announced its “Chemistry for Any Weather” report, Marmot emphasised its commitment to high standards of consumer, environmental, and worker safety and said it welcomes the ‘Detox’ campaign that Greenpeace launched last year to stimulate increased effort on the part of sports and outdoor brands to eradicate hazardous chemicals from their upstream supply chains by 2020.

“We support this initiative as, together with other partners in the outdoor industry, we have been working on this topic for many years,” Marmot said.
“However, PFCs, with their water-, dirt- and oil-repellent effects guarantee the high performance of outdoor products. The substances applied to the surface of the exterior fabrics pose no health risk to consumers when they use the products. Marmot’s aim is to guarantee the functionality and performance of its products, which need to ensure safety and protection in the most extreme regions and conditions. Based on current research results, the PFC-free alternatives for DWR currently available do not offer the same functionality with regard to repelling water, oil or dirt.”

Marmot is currently replacing its range of water-repellent products by using C6 fluorocarbon instead of C8 fluorocarbon, which is why it’s not such a surprise that PFOA showed up in a Marmot product in the testing the campaign group carried out for its new report.

“C6 does not breakdown into PFOA and is the safest alternative for the environment,” Marmot continued. “Until new technology is developed, C6 is the best, most environmentally friendly DWR available without PFOA.”

For spring 2013, Marmot is using a C6 DWR finish in more than 65% of styles in its collection that need DWR treatment. “Our goal is to increase this percentage significantly until 2014,” the brand concluded. “At the same time, we are aware that this can only be a first step. Therefore, Marmot together with other partners from the outdoor industry supports the research on completely new, environmental water-repellent technologies.”


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