You’ve probably heard about PFAS. Or maybe not? Either way, here is our latest update.

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a category of thousands of human-made chemicals, defined by the strong bond between carbon and fluorine atoms. They have very useful properties, such as imparting water resistance to textiles, oil and grease resistance to food packaging, flame resistance to firefighting gear and fire extinguishing foams, lubrication to chain oils and ski wax, nonstick properties to frying pans, and many other applications including kitchenware, furniture, cosmetics, and electronics.

PFAS do not “go away” (although some break down into other PFAS) and have therefore been nicknamed “forever chemicals” – building up in our environment, water, soil, air, food, and blood. PFAS are found at low levels everywhere, and scientists have been working their bums off to see what kind of effect they have on humans. Some PFAS have been proven to be harmful to our health, and over many years those substances have been regulated one-by-one. But the pace is too slow to address concerns that many (if not all) of the thousands of PFAS, which are so pervasive and prevalent in our society, could be just as dangerous as the few we know enough about. Therefore, scientists and regulators in countries around the world are shifting towards restricting the use of all PFAS as an entire class of hazardous substances. And meanwhile, there are a few things we can do in our daily lives to reduce our risk. One involves reducing risks from consumer products containing PFAS.

Do your products contain PFAS?

We do not intentionally add PFAS to our products. But we know that PFAS could be hiding in ingredients like printing inks or coatings, or could even be transferred from PFAS-contaminated water or machinery. So we specify our products to be free of PFAS, and we test our products and packaging to double-check. But when we asked independent testing labs to test for “all PFAS” we learned that nobody could test for all of them. So we work with labs that can test for a long list of over one hundred PFAS as well as total fluorine content (an indicator of potential PFAS content) to cover the rest.

Through testing we have found some trace amounts of fluorine. When we flagged this concern with our factories, they were able to find the sources of contamination and make changes that reduced the fluorine results. 

The default limit from regulations that define PFAS content by total fluorine content is 100 parts per million (ppm), although future limits are likely to drop down to 50 ppm which is even stricter. Currently, all our products would meet the future limit, and our internal target is to maintain levels even below that. For example, our bamboo toilet paper tests below 10 ppm. 

Well, why don’t you call your products PFAS-free?

Technically, our products are fluorine-free and PFAS-free. But because PFAS are so pervasive (they are in our water, even our blood!) we don’t feel like anything can be claimed to be PFAS-free because trace amounts can be introduced from anywhere. 

What steps are you taking to ensure your products are free from PFAS?

• We communicate with factories and suppliers about our “No PFAS” policy 

• We rigorously test our products and packaging (e.g., cardboard roll cores, printing inks) for PFAS as well as total fluorine as an indicator of PFAS content

• We work with factories and suppliers to identify any suspected sources of PFAS and eliminate, replace, or manage them in order to achieve the lowest levels of PFAS and total fluorine possible 

• We created an internal cross-functional team to ensure we are managing for excellence with regards to PFAS and other substances relevant for our products and our suppliers 

Are your products safe?

Yep, they sure are! The bottom line (he-he, bottom) is that all our products are safe for our customers to use. And for those concerned about reducing risks from consumer products containing PFAS, we are doing our best to ensure our products are as close to PFAS-free as possible. We are benchmarking against global regulations, including those expected in the future, and our internal targets are even stricter. And because we want to be totally transparent and honest with our customers, we will continue to test and get rid of any amount of PFAS we may find in our products.