cyccommute 

Okay there are a lot of misinformation to unpack here. First, Nylon and polyamide are the same thing. Nylon fibers are used in all kinds of applications. If you use a toothbrush or have a carpet or even a rug, Nylon is involved. If you have a coat of some kind, it probably has Nylon in it. It’s use in some food packaging when an oxygen barrier is needed.

Spandex is just polyurethane. Polyurethane is even more ubiquitous in that it is the “foam rubber” (which isn’t really rubber) in seat cushions and pillows. It’s used as elastomers in foot wear. It’s used in various hard plastic applications as well.

Polyester is used in even more applications. Clothing is a big one. Bottles for nearly everything including, but not limited to, soda, condiment bottles, food containers, and films. It used for literally thousands, if not millions, of applications.

As for “holding moisture and promoting bacterial growth”, these materials are used in a lot of applications where their water resistant properties are a key reason they are used. They don’t have much in the way of things for bacteria to feed on which is another reason they are used in food applications.

When clothes using these fabrics are washed, they can release micro fragments of the material into the water but they aren’t necessarily toxic. Polymers are not very reactive because their functional groups that give them the ability to react, well, react. They wouldn’t be very good polymers for their applications if there are reactive parts in the polymer. The reaction goes basically to completion and the breakdown products don’t have much reactivity either. Little reactivity means little toxicity.

If your problem is related to plastic...which is a really big “if”...there are so many other possible points of exposure in our Age of Plastics that your bicycle clothes are a tiny bit of that exposure.

canklecat

I doubt clothing is a factor, at all.

My auto immune disorder (Hashimoto's) and eventual thyroid cancer *might* have been provoked by a bad reaction to a gamma globulin shot I got in the 1980s when I was a hemodialysis nurse and was exposed to patients with hepatitis. I had an almost immediate bad reaction and it took almost a year to recover. Side effects from gamma globulin are uncommon and Hashimoto's and thyroid disease are among the rare potential risks.

The thyroid problem deteriorated very slowly for decades before worsening significantly a few years ago, requiring surgery to remove the calcified, cancerous lobe, and increasing my thyroid meds.

But even my endocrinologists and immunologist say there's no way to know for certain what caused it.

And whenever I've guessed at possible causes for my various ailments, I've usually been wrong after a thorough medical exam, lab work, etc.

Consult a specialist if you haven't already.

And if you already have an auto immune disorder and thyroid problems, it doesn't really matter what caused it. The damage is done. Learn to live with it and make the most of what you have. Follow recommendations from your medical professionals. Eat a reasonable diet. Get plenty of rest. Take care of your emotional and mental health. Thyroid disorders can cause anxiety, depression, manic episodes, etc., even when there are no particular stresses in our lives to cause upset. It can help just to be aware that it's usually just an imbalance in the body and is usually transient.

Regarding diet, I've tried 'em all, from vegan to full carnivore/keto. None of it made any discernible difference. I can't digest legumes and most vegetable proteins without digestive upset so I've returned to meat as my primary source of protein. But I eat pretty much whatever and how much I want, within reason. I've cut out most junk carbs and alcohol, but other than that my diet is nothing special. I'm 5'11", weigh 150 lbs, pretty much the same as my peak fitness in my 20s. That's a big improvement over 20 years ago when I gained up to 205 lbs after injuries from a car wreck limited my mobility for awhile.

I wasted a lot of time and energy finding something to blame for my thyroid condition and it wasn't worth the hassle.

So I resumed riding bikes in 2015, lost about 25 lbs, and feel better in my early 60s than I did at age 50. I'll never be the strongest or fastest 60something on a bike, but I'm surprised to be middle of the pack even among other strong, fast 50-70 year olds. Good enough.

indyfabz

Do you know what the highlighted word means? And do you have any scientific evidence to back up your assertion?

indyfabz

The author of post #6 is an experienced, highly-qualified M.D.

Danhedonia

GlennR I don't know man, I always get my best medical care - specific to my personal situation - from strangers on the internet. Not the same for you?

gergokee

agreed

Thomas15

I love this post!

Reminds me, one of my sisters who is a quasi-health idiot, in other words, it's all in her head knowledge, is fond of scolding me about what I eat. I actually eat pie (apple, cherry or blueberry) for breakfast or on the weekends I eat eggs, snaussage or bacon and coffee (with sugar), all according to her is bad. Then for lunch a sandwich, dinner is chili, stew, air fried fish or chicken, red meats, frozen veg., air fried french fries, salid sometimes and so forth, plus same as you Glenn, Ice Cream! And I drink a beer once in a while however I'm not fond of the carb dump.

My cholesterol, I forget the number it is so low that my Dr. has had me re-tested a few times to verify. Overall my Dr. says he would love to have all of his 62 yo patients in my condition and he is a runner. My BMI is 21, I weigh about 138 pounds at just under 5'6". I do have some othropedic issues that is why I don't run but I'm averaging 100-150 miles/week on my bike and i still work full time. Meanwhile my expert sister, retired, has all kinds of health crap including weight mainly because she has never ever exercised even when we were kids and she is a mental patient but that doesn't stop her from scolding me over what I eat.

GlennR

Many things are dangerous such as asbestos and coal miners got black lung disease. I just never hard of wearing bibs was hazardous to your health. But then I don't drink tap water due to the chemicals in it, I filter it first..

Troul 

Might be best to make a bib outta a potatoe's burlap sack. You might get Ole Taters Disease though... OTD suffers from coach sitting & TV rerun watching.

tomato coupe

There was a recent article in the JAMA about this; apparently it's caused by disc brakes.

10 Wheels

Has Your Doctor Offered Surgery to Remove The Thyroid.
Seems that would End your Problem

genejockey 

People who contract a disease that isn't caused by an infectious agent often look for a cause - something they ate, something that they breathed, something they did as a child. Sure, there are some things we know are bad for you, like smoking, or sunbathing, or working with asbestos. But a lot of diseases like cancers or autoimmune disease are not caused by anything other than genetics and/or bad luck. Evolution has left us with this jury-rigged physiology which just barely gets most of us into our 80s before something fails, and a lot of us don't get that far. The immune system is balanced on a knife edge between attacking itself on the one hand and letting cancers grow on the other.

Troul 

Thats the problem with automatic things. The good ole days of manual operated stuff is a thing from lost memory now.

Everything is auto, why not have a manual immune system? (yells at clouds)

Ghazmh

I’d be more worried about the detergent used when washing those toxic bib shorts. Of equal concern for me would be the screen glare from time spent on Bikeforums.

fishboat

If BPA (and/or BPS) exposure keeps you awake at night...google the (relative-mass)amount of BPA you'll have on your hands after handling the thermally-printed receipt from every purchase you've made...for many years.

Milton Keynes

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure all my polyester shirts & nylon shorts wick the sweat away from my skin and dry very quickly, unlike a cotton T-shirt which holds the moisture in. At any rate, bacteria can't get through your skin unless you have an open cut or sore.

veganbikes

Did not know but love Malvern, PA they have Su Tao Café and Greyhound Café in the same shopping center as a video game arcade and a Chinese market. They are also close to Philly, now if only I lived closer.

willibrord

We are surrounded by plastic and its break down products. Micro particles, off gassing, BPA etc. The health of the general public has been declining for quite some time.
It is certainly worth investigating whether plastics are implicated in the increase of auto immune disorders, cancers, obesity and the general deterioration of health.

phughes

You are truly reaching. If that were the case, almost everyone would have Graves, since almost everyone has clothing made of those materials. Those materials are not limited to use in bike shorts. Chill out, talk to your doctor, and stop trying to find a cause in some evil manufactured cloth. Unless you are eating your bike clothing, or licking it clean, it isn't the cause. Even then, I would want to see a case study of more than a thousand people who all eat their shorts, along side a control group of people who do not eat their shorts.

Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I have had two friends with the condition, both are doing fine. One I met when she had it, I figured it out because of her eyes. The last I saw her, she looked normal again. Don't know how she was treated. The other friend never got the eye issues, as she was treated effectively, and earlier.

Now quit reading the psuedo-scientific health sites and listen to your doctor.

wolfchild

I don't think synthetic fabrics are a problem...but if you're really worried then you can wear clothes made form natural fibres such as cotton, wool, silk and leather.

Toadmeister

Extremely low even with prolonged (24/7/365) exposure. Our skin is a barrier that keeps toxins OUT.

Now that said, we do ingest all sorts of toxins and chemicals orally. We drink out of plastics, store our food and drinks in them, microwave our leftovers in them, and literally stick them in our mouth. That's what I would concern myself with.

GlennR

[QUOTE=wolfchild;21750775]I don't think synthetic fabrics are a problem...but if you're really worried then you can wear clothes made form natural fibres such as cotton, wool, silk and leather.[/QUOTE]
Leather bibs would leave me RAW.

cyccommute 

Cotton: Several chemical processes are used on cotton to clean and make the thread and fabric. Dyes are “chemicals”, so better wear white and only stuff you’ve grown and woven yourself.

Wool: Again, several chemical processes are used to clean and prepare wool for fabric. Dyes are used there too. Better wear white and grow your own sheep.

Silk: Same.

Leather: Doesn’t get bleached but the tanning process isn’t exactly nonchemical. (Hint: everything is a chemical).

I guess that means going naked.

GlennR

Hope you wash the saddle after each ride.

Milton Keynes

Obviously it's the 5G.