PFAS are measured in two different ways at OEKO-TEX®. First, our laboratories are testing for specific, legally restricted PFAS such as PFOA and PFOS. Second, a general test for all PFAS has been put into place at OEKO-TEX®, recently. All PFAS chemicals contain fluorine which can be detected via a lab test called “total fluorine (TF) test”. This is why we recently introduced a limit value for total fluorine as an indicator for the presence of PFAS. At OEKO-TEX®, our goal is to strictly prevent the intentional use of PFAS. The TF limit value is tested for all types of OEKO-TEX® certificates and is compliant with the latest international regulations. However, this TF test also measures fluorine present in non-PFAS sources such as fluorine-based dyes, which are not considered a threat to human health or the environment. The goal of this TF limit value is not to forbid the use of all fluorine sources in textiles, but rather to ban the intentional use of PFAS.

The limit values of the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 and OEKO-TEX® LEATHER STANDARD are compliant with the relevant entries of appendix XVII and appendix XIV of the Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) . All substances with textile and leather relevance from European Chemical Agency’s candidate list of substances of very high concern (SVHC) are covered by the STANDARD 100 and OEKO-TEX® LEATHER STANDARD and are thus ensuring that no communication duties are necessary along the supply chain regarding the SVHC substances. However, for some rare examples where SVHC substances are present and cannot be avoided due to technical limitations this is clearly stated in the scope of the certificate and is thus supporting the mandatory communication. Compliance is also insured with the regulation (EU) 2019/1021 of the European parliament and of the council of 20 June 2019 on persistent organic pollutants (POPs regulation) . The OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 has comparable product classes and is compliant with all limit values from the GB 18401. However, the GB 18401 contains also labelling requirements, which are not part of the OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 criteria catalogue. Moreover, all OEKO-TEX® partner textile laboratories are CPSC (Consumer Product and Safety Commission of the United States) accredited and therefore a laboratory report for OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 product class 1 articles serves as evidence of compliance regarding the total lead content (CPSIA; with the exception of accessories made from glass) in children's products. Lastly, the OEKO-TEX® team is regularly monitoring the AFIRM (Apparel and Footwear International RSL (Restricted substance list) Management Group), the ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals) list, as well as other relevant legal regulations and stakeholder MRSL/RSL lists.