Neoprene - surfing’s “shabby little secret”

[jory]

Don’t think anyone has posted this here before. It’s food for thought......

The Big Sea - The Big Sea

Surfing is killing it. This $10 billion global industry – built on the dream of carefree spirits, crystal clear waters and an even clearer connection to the natural world – has never been more popular. Surfing has set out its stall as the champion of environmental issues. But surfing has a...

thebigsea.org

Type 2: Episode 028 - Lewis Arnold and Chris Nelson

Type 2 is a podcast from Looking Sideways in association with Patagonia that explores the intersection between the outdoors, action sports and activism.

lookingsideways.substack.com

To quote Matt Barr....

an investigation into surfing’s ‘dirty little secret’, as they put it: the industry’s relationship with neoprene. Neoprene is the market name for chloroprene. Chloroprene is produced by a company called Denka in a factory in St.John, Louisiana, which emits levels of chloroprene that the EPA has found to be carcinogenic, and so deadly to the local community that the area has become known as ‘Cancer Alley’.

 

[Chocki]

Every Wetsuit You’ve Ever Owned Was Made By These Guys

Quick! What do Vissla, Billabong, Xcel, O’Neill, Quiksilver, Rip Curl* and Patagonia all have in common? If you guessed that they’ve taken your hard-earned money in exchange for material goods, you’re picking the low-hating fruit on laissez-faire tree.

stabmag.com

 

[jory]

Well yes and no if you believe the big sea guys. According to them, Sheico make the suits but aren’t actually carrying out the chemical process that makes the neoprene, that’s still coming via Denko from Louisiana or their other factory in japan.

 

[casa_mugrienta]

Well in that case I suggest you stop wearing a wetsuit.

 

[Pico]

Well in that case I suggest you stop wearing a wetsuit.

Bravo!!! Man up pussy fcuks!

 

[One-Off]

A better alternative?

I wouldn't go so far as to call them "friendly," but the lesser of two evils. At least their trying.

Eco-Friendly Wetsuits: Everything You Need to Know

Eco-friendly wetsuits are finally a trend - with the growing awareness about the negative impact of wetsuit manufacturing on the environment, more and more new materials and sustainable processes have been developed in recent years.

dipndive.com

 

[GromsDad]

Please. Everyone stop surfing!!!!!

 

[jory]

Well in that case I suggest you stop wearing a wetsuit.

Well that would certainly cut the numbers at the beach down!

Joking aside, yes yulex is the answer. According to the filmmakers, The newest yulex performs as well as neoprene (apparently) & costs nearly the same to make suits from

 

[Duffy LaCoronilla]

Yamamoto.

 

[noone999]

Between our wetsuits and our surfboards, and some wax brands, we aren't as environmentally friendly as we think we are.

 

[menobrah]

we are?

 

[mundus]

Yamamoto.

The difference is real.

 

[PRCD]

Yamamoto.

Harakiri.

 

[jkb]

You could buy a well constructed wetsuit made with good materials that lasts longer rather than a disposable Xcel/Bong/Rip/Quik POS that lasts a few months.

 

[jory]

You could buy a well constructed wetsuit made with good materials that lasts longer rather than a disposable Xcel/Bong/Rip/Quik POS that lasts a few months.

Yep especially the if it doesn’t source its neoprene from Denka....

I quote “
The vast majority of wetsuits on sale today are made of a synthetic rubber called Neoprene. Neoprene – the commercial name for chloroprene rubber – is the product of a toxic, carcinogenic chemical process.
There is only one chloroprene plant in the US. It is owned by Japanese chemical company Denka and lies in the predominantly black, low income town of Reserve, Louisiana – in the heart of an area known as Cancer Alley. Rising from the site of a former plantation, the Denka chloroprene plant casts a long shadow over St John’s Parish.
No home in the community around plant has been untouched by cancer. It has the highest cancer risk in the USA – 50 TIMES the national average. The EPA acknowledges the high cancer risk is due to chloroprene emissions from the plant.
Neoprene has been an integral part of the surf lifestyle, granting access to previously unridden realms and helping many forge a greater connection with the ocean environment. However, confronted with these shocking facts, and with a greener alternative readily available, will the $2820 million wetsuit industry clean up its act and end its toxic relationship with Neoprene?
The Facts
Neoprene was invented in 1931 by Dupont. This synthetic chloroprene rubber was christened Duprene, later changed to Neoprene.
The Denka Pontchartrain Works – opened 1968 – sits on the site of the former Belle Pointe plantation where 150 slaves worked the land.
The Denka plant sits in the heart of a region known as Cancer Alley.
Cancer Alley is a corridor, approximately five miles wide along the banks of the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans where almost 200 large petrochemical facilities are located.
2015 the EPA National Air Toxins Assessment comes out – the area around the Denka plant has the worst cancer risk in the whole of the US due to chloroprene pollution from Denka.
If you live in Long Beach San Francisco – the EPA NATA cancer risk is 23 in a million.
In St Johns, Reserve the risk is 1505 in a million – 50 times the national average.
The majority of Neoprene used in wetsuits comes from Denka – either their Pontchartrain Works in Cancer Alley, or from their plant in Japan that manufactures so called Limestone Neoprene.
So called ‘Limestone’ chloroprene rubber is made by melting Limestone in an electric furnace at over two thousand degrees, which is then processed into chloroprene. The Japanese government does not monitor and no public records are kept on chloroprene emissions at the Denka plant in Omi, Japan.”

 

[jory]

I think I just feel that many of our surf brands that tout their eco credentials are buying neoprene from a company that is demonstrably affecting the health of poor black Americans ( & quite possibly Japanese people )

We as surfers are quite big consumers of neoprene & this bothers me ( & I’m not American )

It appears that those same brands could switch over to an alternative with very little financial penalty to either them or us. If we as consumers force them to make this change, this will benefit a community that has so far failed to get much helpful change despite a pretty well established proof that they are affected adversely by their environment...

'Almost every household has someone that has died from cancer'

A small town, a chemical plant and the residents’ desperate fight for clean air

www.theguardian.com

P.s I am by no means an eco warrior, I just found all this quite shocking

 

[menobrah]

That guardian article from 2019 made the rounds here when it came out.

 

[000]

gotta be lawsuits pending
probably a good time to invest in yulex stock, if there is such a thing

 

[oeste858]

gotta be lawsuits pending
probably a good time to invest in yulex stock, if there is such a thing

No. In fact I thought I read something last year that Patagooch made the recipe / formula available for free to anyone who wants to use it.
TLDR any of the articles OP linked. Might have been in there but here is the yulex news

Outdoor Gear Companies: It's Time to Share Your R&D

It could be the key to making the industry more sustainable, but it's also (unsurprisingly) difficult to convince manufacturers to share their R&D finds. Which is where Patagonia comes in.

www.outsideonline.com

 

[One-Off]

No. In fact I thought I read something last year that Patagooch made the recipe / formula available for free to anyone who wants to use it.
TLDR any of the articles OP linked. Might have been in there but here is the yulex news

Outdoor Gear Companies: It's Time to Share Your R&D

It could be the key to making the industry more sustainable, but it's also (unsurprisingly) difficult to convince manufacturers to share their R&D finds. Which is where Patagonia comes in.

www.outsideonline.com

Yep. It's in the video I posted- Patagonia will share the recipe. Hopefully other brands will follow suit and the "market" will drive down the prices.

Does Patagucci still guarantee their suits? Free seam repair?