Avocado Green Mattress is committed to providing safer, certified-organic adult mattresses, kids' mattresses, crib mattresses, pillows, and bedding accessories. Our GOTS-certified organic mattresses, crib mattresses, pillows, and our organic waterproof mattress protector have been independently tested for hundreds of PFAS substances, with no PFAS detected above laboratory detection limits.

This article details our testing scope, methodology, and results, explains why PFAS chemicals are a concern in mattresses and bedding, and shows why component-level analytical testing is more rigorous than generic organic-fluorine screening.
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PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a class of synthetic chemicals widely used across industries for water, stain, and grease resistance. They're known for their persistence in the environment and the human body — hence the nickname "forever chemicals." Exposure has been associated with a range of health concerns, including certain cancers, hormone disruption, immune system effects, and developmental issues in children. The United States Environmental Protection Agency publishes ongoing research and regulatory tools on PFAS.
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In our 2026 round of independent third-party testing — expanding on results we first published in 2024 — we tested the following components and finished products:

All testing was conducted by Intertek, an independent ISO/IEC 17025-accredited laboratory. Each component was analyzed using solvent extraction followed by:

These targeted analytical methods identify and quantify specific PFAS substances at parts-per-billion levels. The detection limit was 0.01 mg/kg (10 ppb) for most substances, with a small subset at 0.1 mg/kg.
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Across all tested components, the results for all targeted PFAS substances were ND — not detected (below the laboratory detection limit). Our 2026 testing scope covered 679 individual PFAS substances, expanded from 320 in our 2024 testing. The expanded panel includes:

Full substance lists, CAS numbers, and detection limits are available in the underlying Intertek test reports (PDFs linked at the bottom of this article).
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Some brands rely on total organic fluorine (TOF) screening as a PFAS test. TOF measures total fluorine content, but it doesn't identify which compounds are present and can miss specific PFAS at the levels that matter. Targeted LC/MS/MS and GC-MS analysis identifies and quantifies individual substances and provides a defensible chain of evidence — substance by substance, component by component.

For the Waterproof Mattress Protector, every fabric layer, the elastic band, the printed labels, the brand label, the storage bag, and the cord were each tested separately. This level of granularity is unusual in the category.

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Other PFAS verification approaches certify a finished product against a compliance threshold—for example, a total-fluorine ceiling of 50 ppm across a panel of roughly 80 compounds. That type of certification confirms the product passes a threshold, but it often doesn't tell you exactly what substances were screened, what the per-substance detection limits were, or what the actual measured values were. Avocado's approach is different: we publish the full Intertek reports for every component, with every substance and detection limit. Certification is a pass/fail outcome. We publish the underlying data and evidence behind it.
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PFAS are commonly used in conventional bedding for:

Avocado's design philosophy eliminates the need for these treatments: our protector achieves waterproofing through a food-grade thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) membrane laminated to organic cotton — not chemical surface treatments. Our mattresses meet federal flammability standards using hydrated silica and wool, not chemical flame retardants.
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PFAS testing is one layer of verification. Our certifications add others:

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