I'm not sure what the actual mechanism is, I'll do long rides and races where this is just fine, but on some stuff, especially the WOR 50 mile in AZ, if I don't use the band-aids, I'll rub my nipples raw. Seems like it's maybe cycles of heavy sweating then drying and the abrasive nature of salt. Anyway, like above, distance runners have been using bandaids for decades.