ROICA™ V550 scores 59 out of 100 for wearer health on Toxome's fiber scale, where 100 is cleanest. That puts it in the middle band. It is fine to wear, but you have to read the label. ROICA™ V550 is an elastane with a fully assessed chemical inventory; still a plastic that sheds. The score rates the fiber, not the finished garment. Mills add dyes and finishes later, so check the label for those.
What is ROICA™ V550?
ROICA V550 is a form of elastane, the highly elastic synthetic fiber commonly called spandex. It is designed to provide the stretch and recovery expected from elastane while introducing a pathway for degradation at the end of its useful life. Asahi Kasei reports that V550 degrades under ISO 14855-1 testing and ultimately decomposes into carbon dioxide and water, with testing showing approximately 55 percent degradation after 24 months under the specified conditions. In garments it appears as the stretch component of a blend, typically 5 to 10 percent of a fabric that is otherwise cotton or lyocell.
Is ROICA™ V550 safe to wear?
Two separate questions apply to any elastane: what the fiber contains, and what it releases while you wear it. On the first, V550 holds a Cradle to Cradle Material Health assessment at Gold level, an independent review of a material's complete chemical inventory. It covers 100 percent of the material by weight and identifies no chemicals of concern, including none of the substances the EU classifies as causing cancer, genetic damage or reproductive harm. V550 has also received OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100, Class I certification for the applicable Japanese production, indicating that the certified yarn has been tested against specified harmful substances and is suitable for products intended for babies and young children, which is the strictest of the four OEKO-TEX product classes. No other elastane has published an assessment at that depth, and it matters here because stretch fabric is worn in close, sustained contact with warm skin, the condition under which transfer from a fabric is most likely. On the second question V550 offers no advantage. Elastane is a polyurethane, a plastic, and it releases microfiber during wear and laundering regardless of how its chemistry is assessed. Toxome scores the two separately, which is why V550 sits in the middle band: full credit for the chemistry, none for the shedding.
Look for the full designation, ROICA V550, including the number. ROICA is a family of elastanes and the Material Health assessment applies to this grade specifically, so a label reading only ROICA should be treated as conventional elastane. Treat biodegradable claims on finished garments with caution: Asahi Kasei states that V550 does not reach the level or speed of biodegradation the OK Compost standard requires to market a yarn as biodegradable. Degradation is in any case an end-of-life property and has no bearing on what the fiber does while worn, so it carries no weight in the score. The variable that matters most is proportion. A garment containing no elastane is a substantially cleaner buy than the same garment at 7 percent V550.
Doing this check on every product page yourself is the tedious part. The Toxome Chrome extension reads the composition for you while you shop, so you see whether something is ROICA™ V550 (and what else is in it) before you buy, not after it arrives.
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ROICA™ V550, answered
Two separate questions apply to any elastane: what the fiber contains, and what it releases while you wear it. On the first, V550 holds a Cradle to Cradle Material Health assessment at Gold level, an independent review of a material's complete chemical inventory. It covers 100 percent of the material by weight and identifies no chemicals of concern, including none of the substances the EU classifies as causing cancer, genetic damage or reproductive harm. V550 has also received OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100, Class I certification for the applicable Japanese production, indicating that the certified yarn has been tested against specified harmful substances and is suitable for products intended for babies and young children, which is the strictest of the four OEKO-TEX product classes. No other elastane has published an assessment at that depth, and it matters here because stretch fabric is worn in close, sustained contact with warm skin, the condition under which transfer from a fabric is most likely. On the second question V550 offers no advantage. Elastane is a polyurethane, a plastic, and it releases microfiber during wear and laundering regardless of how its chemistry is assessed. Toxome scores the two separately, which is why V550 sits in the middle band: full credit for the chemistry, none for the shedding.
Look for the full designation, ROICA V550, including the number. ROICA is a family of elastanes and the Material Health assessment applies to this grade specifically, so a label reading only ROICA should be treated as conventional elastane. Treat biodegradable claims on finished garments with caution: Asahi Kasei states that V550 does not reach the level or speed of biodegradation the OK Compost standard requires to market a yarn as biodegradable. Degradation is in any case an end-of-life property and has no bearing on what the fiber does while worn, so it carries no weight in the score. The variable that matters most is proportion. A garment containing no elastane is a substantially cleaner buy than the same garment at 7 percent V550.
Under ISO 14855-1 controlled composting conditions, V550 degraded approximately 55 percent over 24 months, while conventional ROICA elastane tested alongside it showed no measurable degradation. Asahi Kasei notes this still falls short of the OK Compost threshold for a biodegradable yarn. The fiber remains petrochemically derived and sheds microplastic in laundering.
- ROICA by Asahi Kasei · Asahi Kasei
- Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Registry · Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
- Cradle to Cradle Certified Material Health · Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
- OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 · OEKO-TEX
The health score reflects wearer health only and mirrors the Toxome app. This guide is educational and is not medical advice.