Tests found PFAS in school uniforms, pillows, upholstered furniture and other items that are often next to children’s skin and near noses and mouths.
Even if children’s stain- or water-resistant clothes are advertised as “green” or “nontoxic,” they might still contain PFAS, a group of manufactured “forever chemicals” that have been linked to a wide range of health problems in children.
People are also reading… These chemical are all around us — they are used in nonstick cookware, greaseproof food packaging, water-resistant clothing, touch screens and plastic molding, as well as firefighting foams and industrial processes. They get into water, soil, dust and the air people breathe, and they can bioaccumulate in animals.
We looked at 93 products used by children or adolescents that fell into three broad product types: apparel, bedding and furnishings. Initial tests showed that 54 of those products had measurable levels of total fluorine, indicating the presence of PFAS. Our study partners at Alpha Analytical then tested those products for 36 individual PFAS.
What can be done about it?While more research is needed to quantify PFAS exposures from clothing and other children’s products, it’s worth asking why these chemicals are added to these products in the first place. The truth is that children are messy, and buying white clothing or using light carpeting in heavily trafficked rooms is just not practical.
Certifiers of “green” products could help by ensuring that they include PFAS in their criteria. The precautionary principle would suggest avoiding noncritical uses of PFAS in general.Kathryn Rodgers has been supported by grants from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and charitable donations to Silent Spring Institute. She was a staff scientist at Silent Spring Institute from 2012-2021.
If you have a child who refuses vegetables or otherwise has a limited diet, a multivitamin with iron may make sense; talk to your doctor about whether vitamins or supplements are a good idea for your child. “Active” doesn’t have to mean playing a sport or going to the gym; it could be playing at the playground or going for a walk.
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