PFAS Isn’t Over: What Comes Next for Outdoor Brands?

Today on The Rock Fight, Colin and Eoin Comerford sit down at the Grassroots Outdoor Alliance Connect show with Alex Lauver, the former Director of Materials & Sustainability at Outdoor Research, now leading Douglas Strategies LLC, a consultancy focused on impact reduction and supply-chain transparency.

They unpack the state of PFAS (“forever chemicals”). Once the outdoor industry’s biggest story, now quietly complicated by regulation, cost, and unintended consequences.

They dig into:

• PFAS bans and the fallout — where the legislation stands and which states are next.
• Who benefits most from PFAS removal (hint: supply chain workers).
• Legal gray zones — what brands can (and can’t) claim as “PFAS free.”
• What’s next — new concerns around solvents, BPA, phthalates, and antimicrobials.
• The rise of natural fibers and the myth of “cotton kills.”
• The F/M/K round: “PFAS Free,” “Non-PFAS,” and “No Added PFAS.”

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