Since the Panorama program about the health issues from PFAS, we have decided to release a statement with regards to our products and the use of PFAS.
Let's start with - What is PFAS?
“Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals that resist grease, oil, water, and heat (you might of heard of Teflon and Teflon cooking utensils contain PFAS).
They were first used in the 1940s and are now in hundreds of products including (but not limited too) stain- and water-resistant fabrics, carpeting, cleaning products, paints, and fire-fighting foams.
Certain PFAS are also authorised for limited use in cookware, food packaging, and food processing equipment.
Individual PFAS can be very different. However, all have a carbon-fluorine bond, which is very strong and therefore, they do not degrade easily.
So do our products include PFAS?
As previously mentioned, PFAS has been used in so many items since the 1940s and is found at low levels in almost all places on Earth ( in fact tests done in the UK have found every single person tested had traces of PFAS in their blood).
To recognise this, compostability certifications allow a maximum of 100 parts per million. That’s why we say no PFAS added, not PFAS free.
We are working to be accurate in our communications to help educate our customers. We haven’t added any PFAS in the making of our products – but we can’t control the possible low levels of PFAS already in the environment. So, claims of being ‘PFAS free’ may sound good but are not accurate.
So our current line is that we don't add PFAS but at this stage it is impossible to say no PFAS and be accurate with the amount that is in the environment and commonly use products, so essentially we don't add PFAS but local contaimination makes PFAS free would go against our ethical and transparent policy.
Sources
https://www.dwi.gov.uk/pfas-and-forever-chemicals/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002n2hr/panorama-the-truth-about-forever-chemicals
