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.