What we're doing about PFAS
Wondering what we’re talking about? Let’s get science-y.
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a group of human made chemicals. They’re highly resistant to degradation, so are often used for things like waterproof packaging. And they are used often. PFAS are found at low levels almost everywhere — in clothes, furniture, packaging, makeup and even in food and water. The disposal of PFAS-containing products in landfills can leach into groundwater, which then contaminates everything around it, including our soil. They’re so pervasive, they’ve been nicknamed “everywhere chemicals”. Since we come in contact with PFAS nearly every day, scientists are working their bums off to see what kind of effect they have on us humans. Many believe that long term exposure to certain PFAS can be harmful to our health.
We know it’s concerning that something so prevalent can be dangerous. That’s why it’s exciting that Australia, the USA and the EU are all taking steps to phase out these chemicals. And there are a few things we can do in our daily lives to reduce our risk.
What do PFAS have to do with you?
One of the places you may find PFAS is toilet paper – specifically fluorine. We would never add fluorine to our products. Officially, our products are fluorine free. We’ve done significant and rigorous third party testing and while we have found some very minimal traces of PFAS in our products, the legal definition of fluorine free is anything below 10 ppm (aka parts per million, which we fall into). That’s just how pervasive these chemicals are – trace amounts can pop up from unexpected places, like groundwater.
Well, why don’t you call your products fluorine free publicly?
We could, but we’d rather be as transparent as possible. Below 10 ppm just isn’t good enough for us. We want to absolutely eliminate PFAS from our products. We’re on a mission to be truly – not just technically – fluorine free.
Steps we’re taking to eliminate PFAS:
We’ve taken on industry level investigations on every part of our supply chain and manufacturing process
We rigorously test raw materials, packaging inks, cardboard cores and other materials for PFAS
We’ve redeveloped our wrappers since finding minimal traces of PFAS to eliminate them entirely
We’re looking into different water sources to eliminate any trace PFAS that may be coming from groundwater
So are your products safe?
Yep, they sure are! All our products are totally safe, as deemed by the scientific community and the regulations of every country where we’re sold. Our toilet paper’s PFAS are negligible compared to other products you interact with on a day to day basis. For example, the wrappers on burgers have, on average, much higher (but still legal!) levels of PFAS and you’re ingesting the food inside.
The bottom line (hehe bottom) is we could stop here. But we’re overachievers. And we want to be totally transparent and honest with you, our customers. That’s why we’re continuing to test and work hard to get rid of the minimal PFAS in our products.
