Coated Strings - Another Thing to Be Worried About?

[Canard]

I do not generally use coated guitar strings because I am a cheap and they are usually more expensive.

For acoustics, I generally stick to plain old D'Addario Phosphor Bronze, light or medium gauge depending upon the guitar. For electrics, its plain old D'Addarios or Rotosounds, depending on the guitar and its pickups.

I do like the sound and feel of coated strings that I have tried on other people's guitars. Elixers are nice. I also understand that coated strings last longer before going dead because of finger grime and tarnishing. I cannot verify this from personal experience, though.

Maybe there has been some wisdom to my cheapness. PFAS, forever-chemicals, that do not breakdown in the environment are commonly used in guitar string coatings (and a myriad of other products). They are good for no one's health.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/14/pfas-chemicals-health-makeup-phones-water

"Many PFAS can affect our health. Exposures have been linked to kidney and testicular cancer, elevated cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, liver damage, low birth weight, reduced immune responses and other negative impacts."

 

[dreadnut]

Rockford, MI, a town near us is busy with PFAS contamination in the well water from Wolverine World Wide (Hush Puppies, etc.) leather production; apparently they dumped their waste products around the county willy-nilly, and now they are spending millions to clean up the sites, the water, etc. My daughter's home was under a PFAS advisory and WWW delivered bottled water to them for several months, until their well tested under the limits.

But back to the subject - I've tried coated strings and wasn't particularly impressed with their performance or lifespan.