Can PFAS from clothing and cookware absorb through your skin?

What's actually in it

PFAS treatments on clothing, furniture, and carpets don't just stay put. They migrate to the surface of the material and can transfer to skin on contact. Water-resistant jackets, stain-resistant pants, and performance athletic wear treated with PFAS coatings are worn for hours at a time, often with sweaty skin that increases absorption.

Nonstick cookware also presents a dermal route: handling a warm PTFE-coated pan transfers surface residue to hands, which is then absorbed or ingested when touching food or the face.

What the research says

A 2026 critical review of scientific data on dermal exposures to PFAS found that skin absorption of PFAS is a real and relevant exposure route, though smaller in magnitude than dietary intake for most compounds. Short-chain PFAS and some newer fluorinated alternatives absorb through skin more readily than long-chain PFAS.

The review noted that people wearing PFAS-treated clothing for extended periods, especially athletes in performance gear, may have meaningful cumulative dermal PFAS exposure that current risk assessments don't fully account for.

Choosing non-PFAS-treated clothing and cookware eliminates this exposure route entirely. For outdoor gear, look for PFAS-free DWR (durable water repellent) treatments, which are now available from several manufacturers.