Forever Chemicals In Your Closet? How PFAS May Be Harming Your Health
In the pursuit of performance, the fashion industry has quietly adopted a class of synthetic chemicals that offer stain resistance, water repellency and durability. But the price may be higher than advertised.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively known as PFAS, are increasingly found in clothing, from yoga leggings to hiking jackets and activewear. Dubbed "forever chemicals" because they don't naturally break down, PFAS persist in our environment and bodies, raising urgent questions about their long-term effect on human and planetary health and safety.
Initially developed in the mid-20th century, PFAS are now ubiquitous in consumer goods, including personal care products, nonstick cookware, food packaging and water-resistant fabrics. In the apparel industry, they're often applied as coatings to make clothes repel water, oil, and dirt, which is convenient for outdoor gear and athletic wear, but at an environmentally hidden expense.
According to a 2022 report by Toxic-Free Future, 72% of products labeled as water- or stain-resistant contained detectable levels of PFAS. These findings align with independent studies, such as one published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, which found PFAS in multiple mainstream apparel brands, including some marketed as "green" or "eco-conscious."
While PFAS aren't absorbed through the skin as easily as they are ingested, research suggests that chronic, low-level exposure from clothing still contributes to a person's overall toxic burden. That's because PFAS can break down over time, entering the Air as dust, lingering on skin, and washing into water systems, where they accumulate in the environment and human tissue. Here's what the science shows:
Endocrine Disruption
Immune System Suppression
Increased Cancer Risk
Metabolic and Cardiovascular Effects
Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity
This growing body of evidence has prompted researchers to frame PFAS exposure not as an isolated risk, but as a chronic environmental stressor that interacts with other economic and sociocultural issues, including diet, air pollution and systemic health issues.
As scientific awareness grows, so does public pressure. U.S. states like California and New York are leading the way by implementing bans on intentionally added PFAS in textiles, beginning with outerwear and expanding into broader apparel categories. The European Union is considering a comprehensive ban on PFAS in all consumer goods under its REACH regulatory framework.
Still, industry resistance persists. Many apparel brands cite durability and supply chain complexity as reasons for the slow adoption of sustainable practices. Despite the highly complex nature of this worldwide topic, alternatives exist, including wax-based coatings, bio-based repellents, and PFAS-free membranes.
While systemic change is paramount, informed consumer choices remain a powerful force. Here's how to reduce PFAS exposure through your wardrobe:
The comfort of stain-free leggings or rainproof jackets might not be worth the cost to our long-term human and planetary health. As consumers, scientists and changemakers start to challenge the invisible risks woven into our clothes, the fashion industry faces a crucial inflection point: choose short-term performance or long-term responsibility.
Certainly, what we wear is about expression, but also exposure and a more profound commitment to our overall well-being.
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CNN
26 minutes ago
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Does Your 'Filtered' Water Still Have Fluoride? - Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta - Podcast on CNN Audio
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Keep in mind that fluoride is a mineral and it dissolves in the water, so it's actually quite hard to remove, to filter out. Most conventional filters are not going to do this. Now, there are a couple of ways to filter out fluoride. One is using something known as reverse osmosis, a reverse osmosis filter. This essentially is forcing the fluoridated water under pressure through a semi-permeable membrane. Reverse osmoses is about 80 to 90% effective at removing fluoride. Another type is distillation, a distilling filter. Now, this essentially is boiling the fluorodated water and then capturing the water vapor, that steam that gets produced, and leaving the fluoride behind and that's nearly a hundred percent effective. Now again, I know there's a lot of discussion about fluoride lately, but two things I just want to make sure you know: in most places around the country around the United States, Fluoride is not going to be at a level that is high enough for concern. So despite the fact that we're talking about it a lot lately, there really isn't a lot of cause for concern. Second thing, there are ways to sort of figure out how much fluoride is in your water. There is something called a consumer confidence report that you can get from your water company, they're obligated to give it to you if you ask for it. That can tell you how much fluoride in your water. You can also go to the CDC's website and look for "My Water's Fluoride" and plug in where you live, that can also give you an idea of how much fluoride's in your water. But again, Paula, I just want to be clear for most people living in the United States, this is not a concern. Kyra Dahring 00:02:37 Okay wait, now Sanjay, let's just say the fluoride is removed from the drinking water. We have a question from a listener named Lucia in New York who wants to know if brushing her teeth with a fluoridated toothpaste or rinsing with a flouridated mouthwash, is that enough to protect her teeth? Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:02:53 Okay, yes, this is a great question. The short answer here is yes, fluoridated toothpaste or rinses are really effective at protecting teeth. One thing I just want to point out, if you look at the sort of overall impact of fluoridating water, the public health community often refers to that as one of the greatest public health achievements over the last century. And for good reason, it's made a huge impact. But at the same time, really since about 1975, the incremental benefit of fluoride in the water has gone considerably down. Why is that? Because around that time, 50 years ago, we started to have fluoridated toothpaste and more widespread access to dental care. So fluoridate toothpaste can make a huge difference. When you think about fluoridatied toothpaste, first of all, for children under the age of three, you don't need very much toothpaste, about a rice grain size amount of toothpaste is good for children under the age of three. That's not very much. And for adults, about a pea size amount a fluoridated toothpaste. When you're thinking about the fluoride, you want to make sure that it's sort of sticking to your teeth. And you don't want to rinse your teeth for a period of time after you brush your teeth, just let that fluoride sit on your teeth that's what allows it to of cause remineralization. Don't eat for 10 to 15 minutes afterward either. So no doubt then that brushing your teeth with a little bit of fluoridated toothpaste can make a huge difference. Now I will say that the impact of taking fluoride out of the water is a little bit hard to know. There have been some modeling studies, one came from a group of researchers at Harvard that basically predicted that over the next five years, if you remove fluoride from the water, it would lead to about 25 million excess cavities. Over 10 years, it would lead to about 54 million excess cavities, cavities being defined by something that needs a filling. So again, fluoridated toothpaste, fluoride rinses, they do a great job, but there's an impact as well at taking the fluoride out of the water. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:09 Okay, we're gonna take a quick break, but when we come back, we're gonna talk about foods to eat to keep your mind sharp. Stay with us. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:23 Alright. I know that sound. Kyra, who's up next? Kyra Dahring 00:05:26 Next up is Sam from Connecticut, and he has a question I think you're gonna love about brain food. Take a listen. Listener Sam 00:05:34 Hi, my name is Sam and I'm 68 in Norwalk, Connecticut. I don't know if you've covered this in one of the podcasts that maybe I've missed, but I'd like to know what are the best foods you could eat to nourish your brain? Memory, response time, accuracy? Thanks, have a great day and thank you for all the wonderful information. Bye. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:58 Okay Sam, thank you for your question and I do love the fact that you're thinking about how to keep your brain sharp. As you know, I'm a neurosurgeon, I think about the brain all the time, the most enigmatic three and a half pounds of tissue in the known universe. Now, with regard to how we nourish ourselves and its relationship to brain health, there is some solid science behind certain foods that support memory and cognition. In fact, I sat down on a previous episode of Chasing Life with Dr. Uma Naidoo. She's a nutritional psychiatrist, by the way, how cool is that? A nutritional psychiatrist, she's also a professional chef and she really digs deep into how food affects the brain. Listen to what she told me. Dr. Uma Naidoo 00:06:44 'Foods that will help cognition, we actually go back to those, those omega-3s, it's a group that's featured very frequently. Olive oil, also one that we lean into. The herbs and spices that showed up doing well for cognition and for thinking and for memory are turmeric with that pinch of black pepper, which makes it much more bioavailable, cinnamon, saffron, rosemary, ginger, sage. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:07:13 I hope you caught that last part. It's not only the specific foods, but also these added spices, which can make the foods much more bioavailable. If you eat foods that are good for you, but they're not highly bioavailable, that means they're not circulating around the body and the brain and doing their job. Now, Dr. Naidoo also gave us some great advice on caffeine and how, in moderation, it can actually help objectively with focus and memory. Dr. Uma Naidoo 00:07:41 Coffee was thought, if you keep your caffeine's consumption, or your coffee consumption, under 400 milligrams a day, it was thought to be healthy. 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