How Well Do Product Labels Indicate the Presence of PFAS in Consumer Items Used by Children and Adolescents?

PFAS are persistent
and toxic chemicals used in many commercial
and industrial applications that are often added to consumer products,
including those used by children and adolescents, to impart water
and stain resistance. Since product labels rarely list chemical additives,
including PFAS, we evaluated whether other information on product
labels can be used by consumers to select products without PFAS. We
selected 93 items marketed to or often used by children and adolescents
across three product types (furnishings, apparel, bedding) and five
labeling groups representing different combinations of water and/or
stain resistance and “green” (including “nontoxic”)
assurances. We screened all products for total fluorine (F) and analyzed
solvent extracts from a subset (n = 61) for 36 targeted
PFAS and from a smaller subset (n = 30) for perfluoroalkyl
acids (PFAAs) generated by precursor oxidation using the total oxidizable
precursor (TOP) assay. Products advertised as water- and/or stain-resistant
had more frequent detections and higher concentrations of total F
than those without such claims, and targeted PFAS were detected only
in products labeled as water- and/or stain-resistant. Concentrations
of PFAAs generated by precursor oxidation using the TOP assay often
exceeded pre-oxidation concentrations, suggesting that PFAA precursors
contribute to solvent-extractable PFAS from products. Among products
advertised as water- and/or stain-resistant, detection frequencies
and concentrations of targeted PFAS were similar regardless of green
assurances. This study illustrates many nonessential uses of PFAS
in products used by children and adolescents and suggests that while
water- and stain-resistant assurances can identify products likely
to contain PFAS, current green assurances do not consistently indicate
the absence of PFAS.