Men's Workout Essentials Base Woven Shorts vs Men's Union Print Amphibian 20" Hybrid Shorts: which is safer?

adidas Men's Workout Essentials Base Woven Shorts is our pick, better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.

Our pick

adidas Men's Workout Essentials Base Woven Shorts

Adidas

Men's Workout Essentials Base Woven Shorts

PFAS grade

Good 65/100

Overall grade

Poor 47/100

Verdict

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Hazard flags

⚑ 3

Material

Woven polyester/nylon blend, no waterproof or stain-resistant treatment specified

Confidence

72%

PossibleAzo dyes and heavy metal colorants

ReportedMicrofiber shedding from synthetic blend

PossibleFormaldehyde resins in finishing

Quiksilver Men's Union Print Amphibian 20" Hybrid Shorts

Quiksilver

Men's Union Print Amphibian 20" Hybrid Shorts

PFAS grade

Bad 20/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

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Hazard flags

⚑ 5

Material

polyester blend with water-repellent coating finish

Confidence

45%

LikelyPFAS in water-repellent coating finish

PossibleAzo dyes in polyester base or print

PossibleAntimony in polyester fiber

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag Azo dyes and heavy metal colorants, Microfiber shedding from synthetic blend and Formaldehyde resins in finishing on the Adidas and not on the Quiksilver.
  • We flag PFAS in DWR finish, Azo dyes in polyester base or print, Antimony in polyester fiber and Elastane degradation and microfiber shedding on the Quiksilver and not on the Adidas.
  • The Adidas is Woven polyester/nylon blend, no waterproof or stain-resistant treatment specified where the Quiksilver is polyester blend with DWR finish, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 45 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Adidas is the one to buy.
  • We are less certain about the Quiksilver grade, at 45% confidence against 72%, because it discloses less.

Both products run through the same public rubric, which covers materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →

More waterproof sports gear, see the full ranking