Women's Strapless Belted One-Piece Swimsuit vs Women's Bottom Turn Racerback Bikini Top: which is safer?

Patagonia Women's Bottom Turn Racerback Bikini Top is the clear pick. Old Navy Women's Strapless Belted One-Piece Swimsuit carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.

Old Navy Women's Strapless Belted One-Piece Swimsuit

Old Navy

Women's Strapless Belted One-Piece Swimsuit

PFAS grade

Bad 20/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 5

Material

polyester/nylon blend with water-repellent coating finish

Confidence

45%

LikelyPFAS in water-repellent coating

PossibleAzo dyes

PossibleFormaldehyde in finishing resins

Our pick

Patagonia Women's Bottom Turn Racerback Bikini Top

Patagonia

Women's Bottom Turn Racerback Bikini Top

PFAS grade

Excellent 90/100

Overall grade

Excellent 86/100

Verdict

Buy

Hazard flags

⚑ 1

Material

Nylon/polyester blend with elastane (standard swimwear)

Confidence

72%

PossibleElastane (spandex) degradation under heat or chlorine

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag PFAS in DWR coating, Azo dyes, Formaldehyde in finishing resins and Microplastics shedding on the Old Navy and not on the Patagonia.
  • We flag Elastane (spandex) degradation under heat or chlorine on the Patagonia and not on the Old Navy.
  • The Old Navy is polyester/nylon blend with DWR finish where the Patagonia is Nylon/polyester blend with elastane (standard swimwear), which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 70 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Patagonia is the one to buy.
  • We are less certain about the Old Navy grade, at 45% confidence against 72%, because it discloses less.

Both products run through the same public rubric: 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 swimwear: see the full ranking