Manufacturers have struggled to make stain-resistant furniture without"forever chemicals."Following a 2006 agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency and eight major chemical companies, the industry began swapping out one form of PFAS for another that was believed to be safer. Soon, watchdogs were raising questions about those as well. “They are regrettable substitutes,” says Arlene Blum, executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute.
As Milliken searched for non-PFAS alternatives for its array of textiles, it discovered there were at least 70 replacements that offer water repellency, says Jeff Strahan, director of research, compliance and sustainability. It tested roughly 30 alternatives, some of which relied on wax and others that used silicon, across its product lines. “Not all of them are good,” he says. “Something that works on polyester doesn’t work on cotton, and something that works on nylon doesn’t work on cotton.
U.S. companies represent just a fragment of the textiles and furniture industry. Some American executives worry that they’ll be held to a higher standard while imports with PFAS will be sold online without enough monitoring. “You hope that companies shipping products in from Asia are held to the same accountability,” says Crypton’s Keziah, who notes that his company does testing on all its fabrics to make sure they meet U.S. standards.