Women's Dirt Roamer Storm Jacket vs Men's Pearl Izumi Pro Neoshell WXB Jacket: which is safer?

Patagonia Women's Dirt Roamer Storm Jacket is our pick: better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.

Our pick

Patagonia Women's Dirt Roamer Storm Jacket

Patagonia

Women's Dirt Roamer Storm Jacket

PFAS grade

Poor 45/100

Overall grade

Bad 17/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 4

Material

polyester shell with water-repellent coating finish

Confidence

72%

PossibleAzo dyes and color fastness

PossibleAntimony in polyester fiber

Reportedwater-repellent coating degradation and re-treatment chemicals

Men's Pearl Izumi Pro Neoshell WXB Jacket

Pearl Izumi

Men's Pearl Izumi Pro Neoshell WXB Jacket

PFAS grade

Bad 20/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 5

Material

Neoshell polyester with water-repellent coating water-repellent coating

Confidence

42%

ReportedPFAS in water-repellent coating

PossibleFormaldehyde-based finishing resins

PossibleAzo dyes in polyester

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag Azo dyes and color fastness, Antimony in polyester fiber, DWR coating degradation and re-treatment chemicals and Unverified DWR chemistry on the Patagonia and not on the Pearl Izumi.
  • We flag PFAS in DWR coating, Formaldehyde-based finishing resins, Azo dyes in polyester and Microfiber shedding on the Pearl Izumi and not on the Patagonia.
  • The Patagonia is polyester shell with DWR finish where the Pearl Izumi is Neoshell polyester with DWR water-repellent coating, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 25 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Patagonia is the one to buy.
  • We are less certain about the Pearl Izumi grade, at 42% 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 →

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