First Published – 05/06/2025.
Last Updated – 31/10/2025.
As global scrutiny of the “forever chemicals” intensifies, the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) has introduced a significant advancement in textile testing. On 30 April 2025, CEN released EN 17681-1:2025, a substantial update to the PFAS testing standard that improves detection accuracy, especially for PFAS hidden within complex polymer structures.
Textiles as a Major Source of PFAS Pollution
PFAS are used in textiles to provide water and oil repellence, stain resistance, durability, and thermal stability. Textiles account for about 35% of global PFAS demand, with polymeric PFAS making up over 75% of PFAS in textile products. Both polymeric and non-polymeric PFAS can be released during a product’s lifespan, including when washed.
In Europe, the average person consumed 14.8 kg of textiles in 2020, much of which is imported from Asia, where chemical regulations are less strict. The growth of textile consumption and limited recycling capacity has resulted in significant PFAS entering waste streams, with many textiles ending up in landfills, incineration, or exported to Africa and Asia, where they may be resold, recycled, or improperly disposed of.
New PFAS Testing Standard for Textiles
The new EN 17681-1:2025 standard establishes a harmonised framework for determining PFAS in textiles, reflecting growing global efforts to control these substances. It defines testing requirements and analytical approaches to identify both intentionally added and unintentionally present PFAS. Common methods used under this standard include PFAS analysis and total organic fluorine (TOF) testing, which help ensure that textile products meet compliance expectations and align with international regulatory trends.
What’s New in EN 17681-1:2025?
The new standard replaces EN 17681-1:2022 and introduces alkaline hydrolysis as a critical step. Unlike the older method, which used methanol extraction and targeted only freely extractable PFAS, the revised method uses a mixture of methanol and sodium hydroxide to break down side-chain fluorinated polymers commonly found in treated textiles. This process releases PFAS previously “locked” within polymer matrices, providing a more comprehensive analysis.
Key updates include:
- Alkaline hydrolysis step: Cleaves ester-bonded fluorinated side-chains in polymers, releasing n:2 fluorotelomer alcohols (n=4, 6, 8, 10) and related PFAS
- Broader detection: Allows identification of both freely extractable PFAS and PFAS released from polymer coatings, including those regulated under REACH and POPs
- Revised target list: Updated to align with EU regulatory developments, covering a wide range of PFAS relevant to textiles and textile products
Alkaline hydrolysis was the step that really changed the measurement of PFAS significantly. The total PFAS content was often underestimated by traditional testing because fluorinated substances bound to a polymer were not visible. With the revision of EN 17681-1:2025, PFAS testing labs can provide a lot of precise information about the actual PFAS load of the fabrics.
The detection capability of more substances is thus very important to manufacturers that intend to export their products to such areas where there are bans on PFAS. It is not only a matter of getting the necessary approvals but also being at the forefront of safety and sustainability, which is what global brands committed to the testing according to EN 17681-1: 2025 are doing.
Why This Matters for Your Business
For the manufacturers, importers, or retailers in the EU or other regulated markets, the EN 17681-1:2025 method has significant compliance implications:
- More comprehensive testing: Detects PFAS that previous targeted methods missed
- Regulatory alignment: Supports compliance with EU REACH Annexe XVII, the POPs Regulation and other EU chemical safety regulations
- Risk management: Helps identify hidden PFAS sources before they become a liability, safeguarding your brand’s reputation
- Transparency to stakeholders: Demonstrates proactive chemical management and due diligence to consumers and regulators.
The EN 17681-1:2025 standard is the missing link between meeting the requirements of the law and brand responsibility. It certifies that manufacturers extend their PFAS treatment to all stages—sourcing of materials, production, and verification of the final product. When a company collaborates with a certified PFAS laboratory, it allows them to determine the PFAS analysis cost more accurately, be ready for regulatory changes, and keep chemical documentation that is open and up to date throughout their chain of suppliers.
Manage PFAS in the Supply Chain
PFAS management is a complex challenge that extends beyond testing finished textiles, it must be embedded throughout the entire supply chain. A lot of PFAS can be found in the process of raw materials, dyeing, or finishing of the product. Suppliers can insert fluorinated compounds into the products without a trace; in this way, they become the carriers of the problem, which makes upstream traceability more and more important.
The introduction of supplier declarations, checks by inspectors, and carrying out PFAS screenings of only those materials that we use as inputs can be considered as a very good precaution against very expensive contamination issues.
One of the best sources of reliable and complete data on the entire product lifecycle of a manufacturer is partnering with accredited PFAS testing labs. Only advanced labs with the use of such methods as PFAS analysis, total organic fluorine (TOF), can bring to you all the information on both extractable and non-extractable fluorine compounds, which finally leads to clear potential risks.
So far as the testing of fabrics, coatings, or trims is involved, providing a chemical risk management solution with the implementation of the PFAS TOF test is considered the most efficient contemporary approach.
Eurofins Sustainability Services is a trusted provider of PFAS laboratory testing services that are helpful to textile manufacturers in the successful management of their complicated global supply chains. By the mutual participation of testing in the supplier management programs, brands can achieve a very low level of risk exposure, high material safety, and a higher level of confidence in marketing PFAS-compliant products worldwide.
What’s next?
If your current PFAS testing strategy hasn’t been updated yet, now is the time to act. As your trusted sustainability partner, Eurofins Sustainability Services provides the targeted PFAS testing service that is aligned with the EN 17681-1:2025, and innovative PFAS detection with TOF testing. Talk to our experts today to be ahead of the curve.
