Concentrations as high as those by a busy road illustrate the importance of solutions.
Concentrations as high as those by a busy road illustrate the importance of solutions.
Those who climb indoors are doing something for their health. But climbing shoes contain chemicals of concern that can enter the lungs of climbers through the abrasion of the soles. In a recent study, researchers from the University of Vienna and EPFL Lausanne have shown for the first time that high concentrations of potentially harmful chemicals from climbing shoe soles can be found in the air of bouldering gyms, in some cases higher than on a busy street. The results have been published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Air.
A climbing hall is filled with a variety of smells: sweat, chalk dust - and a hint of rubber. A research group led by environmental scientist Thilo Hofmann at the University of Vienna has now discovered that rubber abrasion from climbing shoes can enter the lungs of athletes. The shoes contain rubber compounds similar to those used in car tires - including additives suspected of being harmful to humans and the environment.
"The soles of climbing shoes are high performance products, just like car tires", explains Anya Sherman, first author of the study and an environmental scientist at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CeMESS) at the University of Vienna. Additives are specific chemicals that make these materials more resilient and durable; they are essential for their function.
Read more at University of Vienna
Image: The colourful holds in climbing gyms collect rubber abrasion from the soles, which also gets into the air. (Credit: Aaron Kintzi/CeMESS)
