Earlier this year, we found toxic PFAS “Forever Chemicals” in children’s gloves. Given that you’ll regularly find kids chewing on a mitten or a coat collar, these types of PFAS exposures require immediate attention and action—action from the companies that make these products and from the federal government that should be setting stronger rules to protect us. 

PFAS have been linked to a range of health harms, such as asthma, immune suppression, thyroid disease, testicular and kidney cancers, childhood leukemia, high cholesterol, prediabetes and fatty liver. These waterproofed textiles are just one source of PFAS exposure. Researchers have found PFAS lurking in more than 200 product types—everything from electronics to cosmetics. 

The days are getting colder. As our winter clothing comes out of storage and we are replacing the outgrown and worn out gear, we are being left to guess which winter products are safe for our families and which ones might expose them to potentially toxic chemicals. This should not be the case. 

Nearly two years ago Canada released a science report acknowledging the risks PFAS pose to our health, but since then there’s been no federal action to get these highly toxic chemicals off our shelves and out of our closets. 

No caregiver would ever intentionally expose  kids to these harms, but it’s impossible to know what’s hiding in these everyday products. People in Canada need federal leadership on PFAS. The government must—at a minimum—require labelling of harmful chemicals so that we have a chance at avoiding them. But what we really need is for these companies to be required to phase “forever chemicals” out of their products altogether. 

The vast majority of people in Canada want the government to protect their health and take regulatory action against companies that profit off poison and pollution. Scientists and environmentalists have been pushing the federal government to go beyond industry resistance and take bold action. They want Canada to list all PFAS chemicals as toxic under Canada’s Environmental Protection Act, and finalize strong rules to keep these chemicals out of the products we use every day. This would make a real difference in protecting our families and our planet.

Let this be another wake up call to the federal government to urgently regulate and phase out PFAS in consumer products—especially children’s products. We need to put the health of our kids and communities ahead of the profits of chemical companies. 

Parents shouldn’t be left trying to protect kids from invisible harms hiding in products that should be made with kids’ safety in mind. We need this now.