THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Advertising Copy is for Now, PFAS are Forever: Tread Carefully on Product Claims By JOHN E. VILLAFRANCO AND KATIE ROGERS
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dvertisers that claim that their products are “PFAS-Free” should proceed cautiously. PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” identify a category of more than ten thousand known synthetic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances that are found in many different consumer, commercial, and industrial products. They are coined “forever chemicals” because of their biopersistence in the environment with
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strong carbon-fluorine bonds that are chemically inert and resistant to high temperatures. The first stop for marketers should be the Federal Trade Commission’s Green Guides, which provide guidance that will help your creative team develop claims about the environmental benefits of your company’s products. The Green Guides recommend that marketers making “free-of” claims confirm the following:
DECEMBER 2023
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The product doesn’t have more than trace amounts or background levels of the substance. To make this determination for PFAS, companies should test samples of the product by analyzing total organic fluorine, which serves as a proxy for PFAS.
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The amount of the substance present doesn’t cause harm that consumers typically associate with BACK TO CONTENTS
