Celebrate America’s 250th with Revolutionary Summer Savings
Celebrate America’s 250th with Revolutionary Summer Savings
In 2023 and 2024, a series of peer-reviewed studies and investigative news reports brought an uncomfortable discovery to widespread public attention: PFAS per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances have been detected in toilet paper. Not in a few obscure brands. Not only in conventional products. In multiple toilet paper samples tested across North America and Europe, including both conventional and recycled options, PFAS were found at measurable concentrations. For consumers who had always assumed toilet paper was a safe and inert household product, this was a significant and unsettling revelation. This article explains what PFAS are, what the research actually found, how PFAS end up in toilet paper, what the health risks are, and most importantly, what you can do about it.
PFAS are a group of more than 10,000 synthetic chemicals first developed in the 1940s for their exceptional ability to resist heat, water, grease, and oil. They are used across an enormous range of industrial and consumer applications non-stick cookware coatings, water-resistant clothing, stain-resistant carpet treatments, food packaging, dental floss coatings, firefighting foam, and thousands of other products. The property that makes PFAS so useful in manufacturing their extreme chemical stability is the same property that makes them so dangerous. The carbon-fluorine bond in PFAS molecules is one of the strongest bonds in organic chemistry. It does not break down under normal environmental conditions. It does not break down in the human body. PFAS simply accumulate in soil, in water, in wildlife, and in human tissue which is why scientists call them forever chemicals.
PFAS have now been detected in the blood of more than 97 percent of Americans tested, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. They have been found in drinking water systems serving hundreds of millions of people worldwide, in Arctic ice cores, in the blood of polar bears, in rainwater collected far from any industrial site, and in human breast milk. The toilet paper finding is one piece of a much larger and more pervasive PFAS contamination picture. But it is a particularly noteworthy piece because toilet paper represents a direct, repeated skin contact exposure route at one of the most absorptive points on the human body multiple times every single day.
The most widely cited study on PFAS in toilet paper was published in 2023 in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Chemical Society. The researchers tested toilet paper samples collected from North America, Western Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa. PFAS were detected in samples from all three regions. The researchers found PFAS compounds in both conventional virgin pulp products and in recycled paper products, suggesting that PFAS contamination in toilet paper is a widespread phenomenon rather than a problem specific to any one brand, country, or manufacturing approach. A parallel study from the University of Florida similarly detected PFAS in toilet paper samples and estimated that toilet paper use could represent a meaningful and previously underestimated PFAS exposure route for many people.
One of the more surprising findings from the research is that recycled toilet paper showed higher PFAS concentrations in some testing than virgin pulp alternatives. This is counterintuitive to consumers who assume recycled products are cleaner and safer. The explanation lies in the recycled paper supply chain. Recycled pulp is derived from a wide range of source materials office paper, newspapers, magazines, food packaging, thermal receipts, and more. PFAS from food packaging and thermal receipt paper in particular can carry through the recycling process into the finished toilet paper product. The more diverse and less controlled the source materials, the higher the contamination risk. Virgin bamboo fiber from a verified, clean source presents a lower PFAS contamination risk than recycled pulp from uncontrolled sources.
Not all skin contact creates equal absorption risk. The perianal region the area where toilet paper makes contact is among the most vascular and permeable tissue in the body. Blood vessels are close to the surface, and the mucous membrane-adjacent tissue can absorb substances more readily than most other skin areas. Research on pharmaceutical drug delivery has documented this high absorptive capacity, which is why suppositories and rectal drug delivery are effective routes for certain medications. The same absorptive capacity that makes drug delivery effective in this region also means that PFAS in toilet paper have a more direct route into the bloodstream than PFAS applied to most other skin surfaces. Combined with the frequency of exposure most people use toilet paper several times daily, every day this makes the toilet paper PFAS finding particularly significant.
PFAS can be introduced into toilet paper manufacturing at multiple points in the production process. Historically, PFAS-based compounds have been used as processing aids in papermaking applied to machinery, molds, rollers, and production surfaces to prevent sticking and improve manufacturing efficiency. Even when manufacturers do not intentionally add PFAS to the final product formulation, PFAS present in the manufacturing environment can migrate into the paper during production. This type of incidental contamination is particularly difficult to control without rigorous testing of the finished product, because it occurs as a byproduct of process chemistry rather than as an intentional ingredient decision.
The second major pathway through which PFAS enter toilet paper is through contaminated recycled pulp. When paper containing PFAS food packaging, food containers, thermal receipts, waterproof paper products is recycled and pulped for use in toilet paper production, the PFAS present in those source materials do not disappear. The recycling process can break down paper fibers and remove some contaminants, but PFAS are highly resistant to the temperatures and chemical treatments used in conventional recycling. As a result, PFAS from contaminated source materials carry through into recycled pulp and into the finished paper product. This pathway explains why some recycled toilet paper marketed as the greener choice tests positive for PFAS at higher concentrations than some virgin fiber alternatives.
Virgin fiber toilet paper made from a verified, uncontaminated source such as FSC certified bamboo from farms that have not been treated with PFAS-containing products presents a lower inherent contamination risk than recycled pulp. This is because the raw material supply chain is more controlled and traceable. Throne Bamboo uses 100 percent virgin FSC certified bamboo fiber from a verified supply chain, and tests the finished product independently to confirm PFAS-free status. The combination of clean source material and finished-product testing provides the highest available level of confidence that the product is genuinely PFAS free.
The health research on PFAS is extensive and continues to grow. The most well-documented associations include thyroid disease and disruption of thyroid hormone regulation, suppression of immune system function and reduced effectiveness of vaccinations, elevated cholesterol and increased cardiovascular risk, reproductive effects including reduced fertility, polycystic ovary syndrome associations, and pregnancy complications, and increased risk of certain cancers most consistently kidney cancer and testicular cancer, with ongoing research into associations with bladder cancer, breast cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has classified several PFAS compounds as possible or probable human carcinogens. In 2024, the EPA finalized maximum contaminant levels for six PFAS compounds in drinking water a regulatory acknowledgment of the established health risks.
Children face disproportionate health risks from PFAS exposure for several reasons. Their bodies are smaller, meaning the same absolute dose represents a higher dose per kilogram of body weight. Their detoxification pathways are less mature, reducing their ability to process and eliminate PFAS. Many of the biological systems most sensitive to PFAS disruption hormonal development, immune system programming, neurological development are undergoing their most critical developmental phases during childhood and adolescence. For families with young children, reducing daily PFAS exposure from household products including toilet paper is a straightforward and meaningful precautionary measure.
The finding that some recycled toilet paper contains measurable PFAS concentrations creates an uncomfortable dilemma for environmentally motivated consumers. Choosing recycled toilet paper reduces virgin fiber consumption and the associated deforestation a genuine and meaningful environmental benefit. But if that recycled toilet paper contains higher PFAS concentrations than a properly sourced virgin fiber alternative, then the environmental choice and the health safety choice are in direct conflict. This is not a reason to dismiss recycled toilet paper entirely, but it is a reason to look beyond the ‘recycled’ label when evaluating product safety, and to look specifically for brands that test their finished recycled products for PFAS and publish those results.
In the absence of regulation requiring PFAS disclosure in toilet paper, the most reliable way to evaluate any eco-friendly or safety claim is to look for published, third-party test results from credible independent laboratories. The terms ‘natural,’ ‘pure,’ ‘eco,’ and ‘green’ have no regulatory definition in the household paper category and can be applied to products that contain PFAS and other concerning substances. Independent testing from organizations like SGS, Eurofins, or Bureau Veritas, with results available for review, is the meaningful standard. Any brand making PFAS-free claims should be able to provide test documentation upon request.
Finding genuinely PFAS-free toilet paper requires more than reading product labels or checking brand websites. Look for brands that provide independent third-party testing documentation not internal testing or general certification claims. The testing should specify which PFAS compounds were tested for, what methodology was used, and what the results were. Broader PFAS panels covering more compounds provide more comprehensive assurance. Look for virgin fiber sources rather than recycled pulp, which carries inherently higher contamination risk from the supply chain. And prioritize brands that make the test documentation available to customers rather than simply asserting PFAS-free status as a marketing claim.
Throne Bamboo is made from 100 percent virgin FSC certified bamboo fiber not recycled pulp. Every batch of Throne Bamboo toilet paper is independently tested by SGS one of the world’s most recognized product safety and testing organizations to verify the absence of PFAS. Our testing covers a comprehensive panel of PFAS compounds and uses methodology consistent with current scientific standards for PFAS detection. We do not self-certify, and we do not rely on supply chain assurances alone. We test the finished product to confirm what is and critically, what is not in every roll we ship.
We publish our testing documentation in our Source Library at thronebamboo.com/resources. You do not need to take our word for our PFAS-free claims you can review the actual test reports. When it comes to PFAS in toilet paper brands, transparency is the standard we hold ourselves to. We believe that families concerned about everyday chemical exposure deserve access to the actual evidence, not just marketing language. If you have questions about our testing methodology or results, our team is available to answer them directly.
