PFAS levels in textile products sold in California and New York have dropped sharply since both states banned intentionally added forever chemicals in apparel and household goods at the start of 2025. Most products tested across 14 categories have come in well below California's current legal threshold, with rainwear, athletic pants, swimwear, and shoes recording the lowest PFAS levels across all categories tested. Some product categories, however, remain in clear breach of state law.
- Major outdoor brands have reduced PFAS in raincoats from hundreds or thousands of parts per million to a range of 1.6–27 ppm, representing reductions of 97–99.99% against testing conducted three years prior.
- Seventy-nine per cent of products tested fell below California's current 100 ppm threshold, 70% fell below 10 ppm, and 60% fell below 5 ppm across both states.
- Every tablecloth tested has exceeded the 100 ppm California threshold, as have six of eight pet accessories and five of nine reusable diapers.
- The findings have come from No PFAS, No Problem, published last week by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
INSIDE THE REPORT: NRDC authors Shannon Goff, Katie Pelch, and Anna Reade purchased 115 products across both states between March and June 2025 to evaluate compliance with California and New York PFAS textile laws, partly facilitated by a 2022 NRDC scorecard covering 30 major US apparel brands and retailers. Samples were analysed for total organic fluorine content at Eurofins in Sacramento using combustion ion chromatography, with supplementary data from Clearya Insights on intentional PFAS use reported under Maine, Vermont, and Washington state regulations between 2022 and 2024.
- Product categories were selected based on a known history of PFAS use or the presence of water or stain resistance functions typically associated with these chemicals.
- Combustion ion chromatography measures total fluorine and inorganic fluoride; the difference between the two yields total organic fluorine, used as a proxy for total PFAS content.
- For multi-layer products, samples were tested as composites; reusable diapers were also tested at the inner absorbent lining separately, with results suggesting PFAS were concentrated in the outer waterproof layer rather than the inner layer closest to the body.
- Clearya Insights has harmonised disparate company reporting formats into a structured dataset, extracting brand identities, specific PFAS types, functions, and concentrations for analysis.
THE NUMBERS: Products from both states have recorded similar levels of PFAS reduction, with California at 78% and New York at 80% of products below 100 ppm, regardless of whether a product fell within the scope of the New York law. Categories that had previously tested in the hundreds to thousands of ppm have recorded the sharpest reductions. Of 46 products tested across rainwear, athletic pants, swimwear, and shoes, 38 have come in below 10 ppm, with only two testing above 100 ppm.
- An Old Navy kids' uniform that recorded 3,660 ppm in 2022 testing has returned only 2–2.3 ppm in this study, while other kids' uniforms have dropped from a range of 926–2,510 ppm to 0.53–1.3 ppm, excluding one outlier that tested at 770 ppm.
- Sunbrella products that recorded 1,340–1,820 ppm in 2022 have returned only 2.9–5.5 ppm in this study, representing reductions of at least 99.59%.
- As recently as 2022, one company reported intentional PFAS use of 1,000–5,000 ppm in youth waterproof jackets, bibs, and mitts, while other brands reported 145–774 ppm in jackets for water resistance, compared to levels of 1.6–27 ppm recorded in equivalent categories in this study.
THE LAGGARDS: Compliance has varied widely across product categories and retailers. Twenty-four products across six categories have tested at or above California's 100 ppm threshold, with tablecloths, pet accessories, and reusable diapers accounting for the highest number of non-compliant products. Nine retailers have sold products at or above 100 ppm, with Amazon recording the highest number of non-compliant products at 11 out of 23 tested, though NRDC notes it oversampled this retailer relative to others.
- Over one-third of products in this study were purchased in brick-and-mortar stores, yet only two of the 24 non-compliant products were bought in person; the report suggests certain online platforms may have poor compliance monitoring.
- The bumGenius Original One-Size Cloth Diaper recorded 410 ppm in California and 490 ppm in New York; a Gymboree kids' uniform sold by The Children's Place recorded 770 ppm in California and could not be shipped to New York.
- SHEIN removed its non-compliant tablecloth following NRDC's communication and GroVia and Temu stated their products were no longer available, but nine of the 14 brands and retailers contacted did not respond or could not be reached.
NOT SO FAST: Current thresholds may not be sufficient to detect all intentional PFAS use. Clearya Insights data has identified companies reporting intentional PFAS use at levels well below California's 100 ppm threshold, including Mizuno disclosing PFOA and PFHxA in competitive swimwear, and Wells Lamont and Kinco reporting PFAS use in work gloves at 1–12 parts per billion. The Clearya analysis has also found several manufacturers reporting continued intentional use of the legacy chemical PFOA, despite a voluntary 2015 phaseout commitment signed by eight major PFAS manufacturers in 2006.
- One product carrying an OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification, the Bedsure dog bed, has returned a PFAS level of 230 ppm, well above the threshold for that certification; OEKO-TEX has stated it will investigate the source of the non-compliance.
- The lack of federal disclosure requirements for PFAS use continues to create uncertainty for consumers, with 83% of non-compliant products in this study carrying keywords such as "waterproof" or "stain resistant" in their product name or description.
- PFAS have been linked to serious health effects including cancer, hormone disruption, and developmental and reproductive harm, with the US Environmental Protection Agency finding no safe level of exposure to some of the most widely used PFAS.
- Clearya Insights data generally suggests that the majority of stated intentional PFAS uses in textiles were for water repellency and waterproofing, with other stated functions including stain resistance, reducing friction, and use as a dye.
BEYOND TWO STATES: The California and New York laws have likely influenced the national market more broadly, with products sold in New York showing reductions comparable to California even across categories outside the scope of New York law. The report concludes that the textile sector's progress shows a full PFAS phaseout is achievable, and that addressing the PFAS crisis requires comprehensive action at all levels of government. Brands, retailers, policymakers, and attorneys general have each been assigned specific recommended actions in the report.
- Brands and retailers have been urged to phase out all PFAS use across their supply chains, disclose PFAS presence in product labelling, and obtain certificates of compliance from manufacturers, who are required under California law to provide them.
- Policymakers have been urged to require non-compliant brands to come into compliance expeditiously and to set a New York threshold no higher than 50 ppm, as the New York law currently covers only apparel, unlike California's broader remit across accessories, handbags, backpacks, furnishings, bedding, and towels.
- NRDC has recommended that thresholds be lowered to 5 ppm to facilitate enforcement against intentional use, noting that 60% of products tested in this study have already achieved levels below that threshold.
- Federal and additional state-level protections have been recommended, as California and New York laws cannot guarantee equivalent consumer protection in other states.
WHAT THEY SAID
Companies complained that they couldn't get PFAS out of our raincoats, kids' products, and household textiles, but when states forced their hands, most companies made the change — it shows the laggards can too. … Our analysis debunks industry claims, as we found most categories of textiles made the transition in less than five years.
— Dr. Anna Reade
Director of PFAS Advocacy
Natural Resources Defense Council
Overall, the results from this study are promising — they show that regulations work to protect people and public health. But more action is needed to ensure people and the environment are protected from the harms of PFAS.
— Shannon Goff
Research Associate and Report Co-Author
Natural Resources Defense Council
