I once loved a restaurant meal, only to discover the sodium content was my entire week's intake. Another time, I tasted an Austin ice cream brand, loved it, and then realized it contained more sugar and fat than my last four workouts would burn. So it shouldn't have been a surprise to learn I was practicing on a PVC yoga mat every single day for one year.
PVC is produced from vinyl chloride monomer, classified by the IARC as a Group 1 confirmed human carcinogen linked to liver cancer. PVC yoga mats commonly contain phthalate plasticizers, classified as endocrine disruptors by the EPA.
A peer-reviewed study published in the Materials journal by Kudzin in 2023 documented the health risks associated with PVC, TPE, and polyurethane.
"PVC is considered the most environmentally damaging plastic and one of the most toxic substances for inhabitants of our planet."
TPE mats are no better. A common blend of TPE contains butadiene, classified as a Group 1 confirmed human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The same material millions of people practice yoga on every day.
Why had no one bothered to explain this to me when they sold me the mat? That was the first thought I had. A feeling of betrayal.
The second was — where can I find a pure mat? Not a synthetic mat that uses a different chemical. Not a mat dyed from unnatural ingredients. Not a mat that looks healthy but is made with unnatural materials.
I looked through more than 30 yoga brands, searching for a mat that would fulfill my criteria. I couldn't find it. I found brands posing as wellness companies using PVC. I found popular brands using PVC and TPE. I decided to build The Foundation Mat for people who wanted a yoga mat that matched their healthy lifestyle.
The millions of people who practice yoga around the world deserve to practice on better materials. I built CORDA to end the disconnect between yoga values and yoga materials.
I decided to use cork from the bark of Quercus suber trees in Portugal — hand-harvested without cutting the tree, with thousands of years of human contact history. Natural rubber tapped from Hevea brasiliensis trees: renewable, biodegradable, and used by humans for centuries.
Two materials. Both from nature.
The science validated the standard. The standard became CORDA.
Foundation by CORDA is the only mat I found that meets that standard. Join me in raising the standard to improve the materials we contact.
Reserve Your MatGage
Austin, Texas
Citation
Kudzin, M.H. et al. "Single-Use vs. Durable Goods: The Problem of Microplastic Contamination of the Environment and the Role of Polymer Chemistry in Developing Solutions." Materials, 2023. DOI: 10.3390/ma17010173