”There are no justifiable reasons to use PTFE in bike lubes”

Elite cyclists, exercisers and bike commuters should lubricate their bike chain regularly to prolong its life. The recommendation is to lubricate the chain after three to seven hours of cycling, depending on the riding conditions.  However, many commercially available chain lubricants do contain the potentially environmentally hazardous substance PTFE.

– Taking care of your bike is important from a sustainability point of view. But using products with environmentally hazardous substances is counterproductive, especially man-made chemicals that are released in nature directly during use that do not degrade, says Lisa Skedung, researcher at RISE and cyclist.

PTFE is not considered to be extremely hazardous to health, but large emissions of PFAS substances, per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, which are used in the production of PTFE, are a major global problem. This large group of chemicals, also called “Forever Chemicals”, degrade extremely slowly or not at all and pollute water as well as air and food. PFAS can accumulate in the blood and organs of the liver and kidneys. Some of the substances are suspected to be carcinogenic and studies have shown that they can affect both reproduction and our immune system.

According to Jacques Holtzhausen, lead engineer at the lubricant manufacturer Squirt Cycling Products, the use of PTFE in bike lubricants is often only used as a marketing ploy to sell products which claim to perform better.

– It sounds good that the lubricant contains PTFE or Teflon, even where in some cases it has a very small effect on the lubricant's performance. It is often seen in high-end chain lubricants that the addition of PTFE offers very little to no benefits at all. With the environmental and health risks in mind, there are no justifiable reasons to use PTFE in bike lubes, says Jacques.

There are chain lubricants without PTFE, including products from the manufacturer Squirt, but since the table of contents of chemical products is not a requirement, it can be difficult as a consumer to see if a product contains harmful chemicals or not, which makes it difficult to make conscious choices.

– As a consumer, you must ask questions to retailers and manufacturers and watch out for false marketing. That a product is listed as PFOA-free does not mean that it is free from PTFE or any other PFAS and that it is marketed as biodegradable could mean that only 60% of the content will degrade within 28 days. That a product would be completely biodegradable and at the same time contain PTFE is impossible, says Lisa Skedung.