The State of PFAS in Consumer Products: What Grading 20,688 Products Revealed (2026)

A sweeping review of 20,688 consumer products across 1,786 brands and 166 categories found that nearly two out of every three items on the market today, 65 percent, carry a failing grade of D or F for PFAS risk under a single public grading rubric. The findings paint a stark picture of a marketplace where certain everyday categories, from school uniforms to rain jackets, are essentially saturated with PFAS-linked materials, while an entirely different corner of the market, led by water filtration products, has largely cleaned up its act.

Key findings

• Of 20,688 products graded, 10,235 received an outright F, meaning 49 percent of everything assessed landed in the worst possible risk tier.
• 65 percent of all products graded, 13,398 items, scored a D or F, the combined failing range in this rubric.
• Only 11 percent of products earned a top grade of A or B (1,709 A's and 703 B's combined), underscoring how rare genuinely low-risk formulations still are.
• Five categories, including School Uniforms, Sports Bras, Activewear, Rain Jackets, and Tents, graded D or F for 100 percent of the products tested in each, with sample sizes ranging from 124 to 204 products.
• By contrast, Water Filters, Whole-House Filters, and Refrigerator Filters each posted a 100 percent A/B rate, the cleanest results anywhere in the dataset.
• The grading spread is heavily bimodal: grade C, the middle tier, accounts for just 24 percent of products (4,878), meaning most items cluster at the extremes rather than the middle.

A market split in two

The overall distribution of grades tells a story of two very different marketplaces coexisting under one roof. Nearly half of all products graded outright fail, while a small minority, just above one in ten, earn a passing grade of A or B. The middle ground, grade C, is comparatively thin, suggesting that once a product's materials or supply chain make it PFAS-prone, it tends to fail decisively rather than sit in a gray zone.

Overall grade distribution across 20,688 products

Grade	Products	Share of total
A	1,709	8%
B	703	3%
C	4,878	24%
D	3,163	15%
F	10,235	49%

Where PFAS risk concentrates: apparel and outdoor gear

The categories with the worst outcomes share a common thread: they depend on water resistance, stain resistance, or moisture-wicking performance, properties historically achieved with PFAS-based durable water repellent (DWR) treatments and finishes. Every single product graded in School Uniforms (195 products), Sports Bras (124 products), Activewear (199 products), Rain Jackets (204 products), and Tents (139 products) received a D or F. That is a combined 861 products across five categories with a zero percent pass rate, which suggests these are not isolated bad actors but rather industry-wide sourcing and finishing practices.

Highest-risk categories (minimum 80 products graded)

Category	Products graded	Percent D/F
School Uniforms	195	100%
Sports Bras	124	100%
Activewear	199	100%
Rain Jackets	204	100%
Tents	139	100%

The presence of school uniforms on this list is notable for reasons beyond the numbers. Uniforms are worn daily by children for extended hours, and a 100 percent fail rate across 195 graded products suggests that PFAS-treated stain and wrinkle resistance remains standard practice in this segment of the apparel industry, largely outside the public conversation that has focused more on outdoor gear.

Where the market is getting it right: water filtration

If apparel and outdoor gear represent the PFAS problem, water filtration represents a possible model for the solution. Water Filters (130 products), Whole-House Filters (101 products), and Refrigerator Filters (126 products) each achieved a 100 percent A/B rate, meaning every single product graded in these three categories passed with a low-risk score. Pitcher Water Filters & Cartridges (159 products) and Under-Sink RO Systems (99 products) were nearly as strong, each posting 99 percent A/B rates.

Safest categories (minimum 80 products graded)

Category	Products graded	Percent A/B
Water Filters	130	100%
Whole-House Filters	101	100%
Refrigerator Filters	126	100%
Pitcher Water Filters & Cartridges	159	99%
Under-Sink RO Systems	99	99%

This pattern makes intuitive sense given the category's purpose. Water filtration products are frequently marketed and engineered specifically to remove contaminants, including PFAS, from drinking water, so manufacturers in this space have strong commercial incentive to avoid introducing the very chemicals their products claim to filter out. It stands as a useful counterexample to the apparel and outdoor categories, showing that near-total avoidance of PFAS-linked materials is achievable at scale when a category's core value proposition depends on it.

What this means for shoppers

With 65 percent of all 20,688 graded products landing in the D or F range, consumers cannot assume that a product is PFAS-free by default. The data suggests that category matters enormously. Someone shopping for a water filter is statistically very likely to find a low-risk option, while someone shopping for a rain jacket, tent, or activewear item is, based on this dataset, unlikely to find a passing grade at all without deliberate research. Parents purchasing school uniforms in particular may want to pay close attention given the 100 percent fail rate found across 195 graded products in that category.

Methodology

These findings are drawn from PFAS Database's grading system, which assigns letter grades of A through F to consumer products based on publicly available materials disclosures, ingredient and fabric treatment information, and category-level risk patterns. Grades are model-based estimates, not laboratory test results, and they reflect the likelihood of PFAS presence based on disclosed materials and known industry practices rather than direct chemical analysis of each individual product. Category-level statistics in this report are limited to categories with at least 80 graded products to avoid small-sample distortion. Full details on the grading rubric and its limitations are available at the methodology page.

Cite this study

"The State of PFAS in Consumer Products: What Grading 20,688 Products Revealed (2026)." PFAS Database. https://pfasdatabase.com/guides/state-of-pfas-consumer-products-2026. Published February 2026.