I want to start this one with good news, because that is not how these articles usually go.
If you have read anything about PFAS in the last few years, you have probably read something frightening. Forever chemicals in your rain jacket. Forever chemicals in your yoga pants. Forever chemicals in the dust on your floor. It is a lot, and after a while it stops being useful information and starts being background dread.
So here is the part that rarely makes the headline. The laws worked. Testing done after the new state bans took effect found PFAS levels in textiles dropped from thousands of parts per million down to under ten. More than sixty percent of tested items came in below five parts per million, and around eighty percent of consumer products tested were compliant.
That is an enormous change, and it happened in about three years.
This post is about what actually changed, where the gaps still are, and how to check what you own without needing a chemistry degree.
Quickly, for anyone arriving cold: PFAS are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a family of thousands of compounds prized for repelling water, oil, and stains, and infamous for not breaking down afterward. They ended up in clothing because they work, showing up in water-repellent coatings, stain-resistant treatments, and wrinkle-free finishes. Exposure has been associated with hormone disruption, immune effects, and certain cancers, though the strength of that evidence varies a lot by compound. What is not in dispute is that they persist, they accumulate, and regulators on several continents decided the tradeoff was not worth it.
What the Bans Actually Cover
Two of the biggest ones took effect on January 1, 2025.
California's AB 1817 prohibits the manufacture, distribution, or sale of new textile articles containing intentionally added PFAS in the state. The current threshold is 100 parts per million of total organic fluorine, dropping to 50 ppm on January 1, 2027. Manufacturers now have to provide certificates of compliance to their distributors and sellers.
New York's law does something similar for apparel, also effective January 2025, with its own threshold arriving in 2027.
And this is not just two states. Maine, Vermont, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Washington, and New Hampshire have all passed restrictions with staggered dates running out to 2028 and beyond.
Because almost nobody manufactures a separate line of pajamas for California, these state laws effectively reset the floor for the whole American market. That is why the numbers moved so fast.
Where the Gaps Still Are
This is the part that gets left out, and it is the part that actually helps you shop.
Outdoor apparel for severe wet conditions is exempt until January 1, 2028. If you buy a rain shell or ski gear, PFAS may still be in there legally. Since 2025, those items have to carry a disclosure that reads "Made with PFAS chemicals." Look for it. It is a small line of text, and it is the only place in your closet where the label will tell you outright.
The bans target intentionally added PFAS. Contamination can still happen through shared equipment, recycled inputs, or supply chain drift. That is why thresholds exist at all, and why they are stepping down over time rather than sitting at zero.
Nothing you already own is covered. These laws apply to new goods entering the market. The pajamas in your drawer from 2019 are exactly as they were.
Enforcement across imports is uneven. A compliance certificate is a document, not a lab result. Some brands test. Many pass the paperwork along.
Why Sleepwear Is Worth Thinking About Separately
I spent six years as a respiratory therapist. That job teaches you to think about exposure in terms of dose and duration, not just presence. A trace of something you touch for ten minutes is a different question from the same trace against your skin for eight hours.
You wear sleepwear longer than you wear anything else. Warm skin, close contact, night after night, for years. It is a small exposure with a very long duration, repeated across most of your life.
I want to be careful here, because this is exactly the place where wellness marketing tends to sprint past the evidence. Research on how much PFAS actually crosses the skin from fabric is still emerging, and it is not the primary exposure route for most people. Drinking water and food packaging matter more.
But sleepwear is one of the few exposures you can control completely, cheaply, and permanently, with one purchase decision. That is a good reason to think about it. It is not a good reason to panic about it.
What Certifications Actually Tell You
Here is where I have to be precise, because a lot of brands are not.
OEKO-TEX Standard 100 has banned the intentional use of PFAS in all certified textiles, leather, apparel, and footwear since January 1, 2024. As of January 1, 2026, certified products must stay under 25 parts per billion for each regulated PFAS substance, and finishing processes that use certain fluorotelomer alcohols no longer qualify.
That is strict. It is meaningfully stricter than state law.
But OEKO-TEX does not certify any product as "PFAS-free," and no honest brand should tell you it does. What the certificate says is that intentional use is prohibited and residues are tested against a defined limit. That is a real, verifiable, third-party claim. "PFAS-free" is a marketing phrase, and when you see it printed on a hangtag, the correct response is to ask what testing it is based on.
GOTS, the Global Organic Textile Standard, governs organic fiber content and processing, and its chemical restrictions are strict. If you want to know precisely how it handles fluorinated compounds, that is a fair question to put to any brand claiming it, and a good brand will know the answer.
Three Questions Worth Asking Any Brand
You do not need to become an expert. You need three questions.
Who certified this, and can I see the certificate number? A real OEKO-TEX certificate has a number and an issuing institute. It can be looked up. A brand that has one will hand it over immediately. A brand that says "our fabrics are OEKO-TEX" without a number is describing something their supplier told them.
Is the certificate on the fabric or on the finished garment? These are different. Fabric can be certified and then finished, dyed, or treated afterward by someone else. Most small brands hold fabric-level certification. That is normal and worth knowing.
Was anything added after the fabric was certified? Wrinkle resistance, stain resistance, and water repellency are the three finishes most likely to involve fluorochemistry. If a garment promises any of those, ask what makes it work.
If a brand cannot answer these, that does not mean they are hiding something. Usually it means nobody has ever asked. But you learn a great deal from how someone responds to being asked.
Where MoonThreads Sits
I will hold myself to the same standard.
Our cotton is made with GOTS-certified organic cotton, produced in a GOTS-certified facility, using OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified fabric and dyes. No elastane, no synthetic fibers, no wrinkle-resistant or stain-resistant finishes, because we did not add any.
Our silk is 100% 6A grade mulberry silk, OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified. We hold the certificate number, and if you email us, we will send it to you.
We do not add PFAS to our sleepwear. No water-repellent coatings, no stain-resistant treatments, no wrinkle-free finishes, which are the three places fluorochemistry usually hides. Our fabrics are certified to OEKO-TEX Standard 100, a standard that bans the intentional use of PFAS and tests against strict residue limits.
We would rather hand you a certificate number than a slogan. Email us and we will send it.
The Part I Actually Want You to Take Away
The reason PFAS levels in clothing fell by orders of magnitude in three years is not that consumers became more anxious. It is that a handful of states wrote rules, and manufacturers changed what they put in fabric.
That should make you feel something other than dread. The system moved. It moved fast. It is still moving, with thresholds stepping down again in 2027.
So you do not have to treat your closet like a hazard. You get to ask better questions, buy from people who answer them, and then go to sleep.
That last part matters more than any of this.
By Ann Havenly
MoonThreads makes sleepwear from GOTS-certified organic cotton and OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified mulberry silk. Certificate numbers available on request.