So after my devastating allergic reaction to my Newton's I was despairing. I emailed a number of companies and most have been great about offering to look into whether they use thiuram. TEVA does not use thiuram! They make hiking boots, biking shoes, water shoes, multi-sport shoes, sandals, and more! It's great to have a lot of options. http://www.teva.com/THINK Shoes http://www.thinkshoesusa.com/ has a commitment to being safe. They would be great for anyone with multiple allergies. This is the information from the email they sent:
Think uses organically tanned leather composed of tanning agents from ground tree bark extracts, bark from plantation trees and waste product from the timber industry. No trees from primeval or tropical rain forests are felled for our tanning agents. The bark for our tanning agents comes from timber tree plantations. This means: no tree in the open country dies solely in the interest of organic tanning. On the contrary: the bark, which would otherwise be nothing more than waste from timber processing is put to good use. Think's all-natural organically tanned leather is breathable, skin friendly, moisture absorbing, full bodied in structure and, free from harmful chemicals and toxins. Aluminum, chrome, mercury and the like, are not added to our organically tanned leather to make it easy care; we are highly apprehensive about such methods. This is why we leave our leather as natural as it is. None of our vegetable dyes contain heavy metals. And it goes without saying that we do not use synthetic inorganic chemical compounds or cheap carcinogenic coloring agents such as azo dyes. Organically tanned leather has no chemical additives. The animal skin is made durable by means of natural substances. This allows the leather to breathe and to absorb moisture naturally. It feels good and robust. Without additives such as chrome, PCP, formaldehyde, and the like.To be sure nothing slips through the cracks, we have our leather randomly tested by the laboratories of independent research institutes . After all, better safe than sorry. Intangible to most but important to us. Thanks to short transportation distances, our raw leather does not have to be treated with chemicals to preserve it. Special salts and a proper cooling chain suffice. Few tanneries can produce organically tanned leather. Availability is very limited. Our philosophy rules out 95% of tanneries! A fact that has an effect on pricing. Organically tanned leather is simply better but more cost intensive, slower and more complex to produce. In this day and age, vegetable tanned leather is an extravagance mastered by very few European tanneriesThe result: a non-polluting product completely free of chemicals, exclusively produced in quality European tanneries with high environmental standards. Hypoallergenic, thus no harmful substances come into contact with your skin.Our anatomically designed cork footbeds consist primarily of natural cork (which over time molds to the natural shape of your feet to create a custom fit) and natural rubber from the Hevea tree. Natural latex is a sustainable raw material which provides natural cushioning, outstanding thermal insulation and high slip and wear resistance. When nothing else is possible and where we must use microcell rubber, crepe or polyurethane because of weight restrictions or technical requirements, it is always free of ozone depleting fluoro chloro carbons.A number of people are allergic to nickel. Think! has thought of this as well. We only use nickel free accessories and ornaments created in house by our own designers.Rest assured the quality of the Think! shoes you wear is healthy. Think! - Healthy shoes. Naturally beautiful. Designed in Austria.
