After years of concern over PFAS contamination in drinking water, consumer products and the environment, a new report offers some encouraging news: restrictions on the chemicals in New York and California appear to be working.
The report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found that levels of PFAS — often called “forever chemicals” because they persist in the environment and the human body — dropped dramatically in many apparel and textile products after state restrictions took effect in 2025.
Kate Donovan, Director, Northeast Environmental Health with NRDC, said the organization tested more than 100 products about six months after the laws went into effect.
“What we found was encouraging for the most part,” Donovan said. “We found that most of these brands had dramatically reduced the levels of PFAS in their products.”
The report examined products ranging from raincoats and athletic wear to swimwear, outdoor gear, tablecloths and pet products. According to the report, some outdoor apparel products showed PFAS reductions of as much as 99.99%.
The findings, she said, demonstrate that manufacturers can successfully replace PFAS with safer alternatives.
“It tells us that the technologies and the safer alternatives exist,” Donovan said. “We know that it’s possible. We know that it doesn’t have much impact on consumers.”
Donovan noted there was no indication that consumers had difficulty finding replacement products or that prices increased significantly following the restrictions.
The report also challenges long-standing industry arguments that removing PFAS from products is impractical or too costly.
Still, the findings were not uniformly positive.
Donovan said testing revealed continued PFAS contamination in some product categories, including cloth diapers, tablecloths and pet products.
“There were definitely some gaps,” she said. “Those categories were really not in compliance.”
Mixed results in Albany
The report was released as New York lawmakers wrapped up their legislative session, where advocates scored some victories but fell short on broader restrictions targeting PFAS in consumer products.
Donovan described the session as “a mixed bag.”
Among the measures approved by lawmakers was the PFAS Discharge Disclosure Act, which requires facilities operating under water discharge permits to test for and disclose PFAS releases.
“This will give us a lot more information of where exactly these chemicals are being put into the environment,” Donovan said.
Lawmakers also passed legislation to preserve stricter drinking water protections after recent federal rollbacks of PFAS regulations. The bill would codify federal maximum contaminant levels, or MCLs, for several PFAS compounds in New York law.
“New Yorkers still deserve those protections,” Donovan said.
Advocates were disappointed, however, that legislation targeting PFAS in additional consumer products, including cookware and cosmetics, failed to advance.
“We continually will have this cycle of filtering and testing, but ultimately not solving the problem,” Donovan said. “The upstream bills are really important to start getting to the root cause of this contamination crisis.”
Difficult for consumers to identify PFAS
For consumers trying to avoid PFAS exposure, Donovan said identifying products containing the chemicals remains challenging.
“There are no transparency laws,” she said. “These are not chemicals that need to be listed on ingredients.”
Instead, she advises shoppers to be cautious of marketing terms such as “water resistant,” “stain resistant” and “non-stick,” which can indicate the presence of PFAS chemicals.
Looking ahead
Despite setbacks this year, Donovan said advocates plan to continue pursuing broader PFAS restrictions when lawmakers return in 2027.
She hopes the new report will give lawmakers confidence that stronger regulations can be implemented without major disruptions to businesses or consumers.
“I really hope this report does show that when they pass a law that phases out something or bans the use of these chemicals, companies comply and there’s really not much disruption to the marketplace,” Donovan said.
For Donovan, the report offers evidence that state-level action can make a measurable difference, even as federal regulations face uncertainty.
“These laws are actually working,” she said. “They are worth our effort and they are important public health measures.”