What Dangers Are Lurking in Leather?

By Dr. Mercola Walk through the accessories, outwear and furniture sections of any department store and you'll find an enticing array of handbags, jackets, sofas and armchairs made from "genuine leather." Car interiors are another place you'll find it, with the accompanying coveted smell. But where does the leather for these items come from? Sure, most of it comes from cows and pigs, although there is a market for leather made from snakes, buffalo, kangaroos and even fish and ostriches. It may come as a surprise, but the global market for the plethora of leather applications is gargantuan, and even that may be an understatement. Undark, a digital publication of the Knight Science Journalism Fellowship Program headquartered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, estimates it to be around $200 billion annually.1 Leather footwear is the biggest seller, worth about $47 billion. Gloves are next, grabbing around $12.3 billion.2 But where — and more importantly, how — is the leath
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