Monofilament vs Fishing Line: which is safer?
Ande Monofilament is the clear pick. Berkley FireLine Fishing Line carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.
Our pick
Ande
Monofilament
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
PossibleMicroplastic shedding during use
Berkley FireLine
Fishing Line
PFAS grade
Overall grade
Verdict
Hazard flags
Material
Confidence
PossibleProprietary coating composition (unknown chemical exposure)
PossibleMicrofiber/microplastic shedding from coating degradation
ReportedEntanglement and wildlife ingestion risk
Where these two actually differ
- We flag Microplastic shedding during use on the Ande and not on the Berkley FireLine.
- We flag Proprietary coating composition (unknown chemical exposure), Microfiber/microplastic shedding from coating degradation, Entanglement and wildlife ingestion risk and UV stabilizer or antioxidant leaching (thermal/light-induced) on the Berkley FireLine and not on the Ande.
- The Ande is Monofilament nylon fishing line where the Berkley FireLine is Braided polyethylene core with proprietary coating, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
- The gap is 35 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Ande is the one to buy.
- We are less certain about the Berkley FireLine grade, at 45% confidence against 72%, because it discloses less.
Both products run through the same public rubric, which covers materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →
More fishing line, see the full ranking