Newsweek, July 2025
Smartwatch bands have been found to contain high levels of a potentially harmful chemical that researchers believe can be absorbed through the skin, raising the question of whether the popular accessory could pose a hidden public health risk. A University of Notre Dame study published the American Chemical Society at the end of 2024, found the wearable tech contained significant amounts of “forever chemicals,” per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—specifically perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA).
The author of the study, Graham Peaslee, a professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, told Newsweek that “we found that it was almost entirely PFHxA leaching out of the wristbands.” “I believe the plastics industry has been using this particular PFAS in consumer products, which helps explain why it is so prevalent in the samples from this study,” he added.
Peaslee also indicated that a significant proportion of these chemicals in wristbands could pass through human skin under normal conditions. While traditional watch bands are made from a wide range of materials, from stainless steel to leather, smartwatch bands are typically made from more synthetic materials.
