Since the beginning of its Detox campaign in 2011, Greenpeace has been calling on the clothing industry to eliminate all hazardous chemicals from its supply chain by 2020, highlighting per- and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) as one of the priority hazardous chemical groups to eliminate. PFCs are used
in many industrial processes and consumer products, and are well known for their use by
the outdoor apparel industry in waterproof and water-repellent finishes. PFCs are environmentally hazardous substances, which are persistent in the environment.
Studies show that some PFCs can accumulate in living organisms such as the livers of polar bears in the Arctic and are also detected in human blood. Animal studies provide evidence that some PFCs cause
harm to reproduction, promote the growth of tumors and affect the hormone system.
Starting in 2012, Greenpeace put the spotlight on the outdoor industry, with a number of studies which found PFCs are routinely used in outdoor clothing, footwear and other equipment; other reports showed the evaporation of volatile PFCs into air and demonstrated significant contamination in
the indoor air of stores selling outdoor gear.
Greenpeace also found PFC contamination far from the original source of their release, in
secluded mountain lakes and snow from three continents, and documented the historic and
ongoing contamination of water, air and dust in four locations near PFC manufacturing facilities
around the world.
Together with Greenpeace, hundreds of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts from around the world have asked their favorite outdoor brands to stop using hazardous PFCs in outdoor gear. The outdoor sector has started responding to this growing consumer demand; since 2012, when the Greenpeace campaign first addressed the outdoor sector, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of PFC-free alternative technologies and products on the market, and in the number of outdoor
brands which have set PFC elimination timelines, as documented in the following overview.
in many industrial processes and consumer products, and are well known for their use by
the outdoor apparel industry in waterproof and water-repellent finishes. PFCs are environmentally hazardous substances, which are persistent in the environment.
Studies show that some PFCs can accumulate in living organisms such as the livers of polar bears in the Arctic and are also detected in human blood. Animal studies provide evidence that some PFCs cause
harm to reproduction, promote the growth of tumors and affect the hormone system.
Starting in 2012, Greenpeace put the spotlight on the outdoor industry, with a number of studies which found PFCs are routinely used in outdoor clothing, footwear and other equipment; other reports showed the evaporation of volatile PFCs into air and demonstrated significant contamination in
the indoor air of stores selling outdoor gear.
Greenpeace also found PFC contamination far from the original source of their release, in
secluded mountain lakes and snow from three continents, and documented the historic and
ongoing contamination of water, air and dust in four locations near PFC manufacturing facilities
around the world.
Together with Greenpeace, hundreds of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts from around the world have asked their favorite outdoor brands to stop using hazardous PFCs in outdoor gear. The outdoor sector has started responding to this growing consumer demand; since 2012, when the Greenpeace campaign first addressed the outdoor sector, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of PFC-free alternative technologies and products on the market, and in the number of outdoor
brands which have set PFC elimination timelines, as documented in the following overview.
