Women's All Seasons Pull-On Pants vs Men's Sprag 5-Pocket Pants: which is safer?
Columbia Women's All Seasons Pull-On Pants is our pick: better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.
Our pick
Columbia
Women's All Seasons Pull-On Pants
PFAS grade
Good 65/100
Overall grade
Poor 47/100
Verdict
Skip
Hazard flags
⚑ 3
Material
Nylon/polyester blend knit, no stated water-repellent finish
Confidence
72%
PossibleFormaldehyde resins (anti-wrinkle, sizing)
ReportedMicroplastics shedding
PossibleAntimony in polyester
The North Face
Men's Sprag 5-Pocket Pants
PFAS grade
Bad 20/100
Overall grade
Bad 12/100
Verdict
Skip
Hazard flags
⚑ 2
Material
Cotton/nylon blend with water-repellent coating finish (likely fluorocarbon-based)
Confidence
45%
PossiblePFAS in water-repellent coating finish (separate grade)
PossibleCoating degradation and microparticle shedding
Where these two actually differ
- We flag Formaldehyde resins (anti-wrinkle, sizing), Microplastics shedding and Antimony in polyester on the Columbia and not on the The North Face.
- We flag PFAS in DWR finish (separate grade) and Coating degradation and microparticle shedding on the The North Face and not on the Columbia.
- The Columbia is Nylon/polyester blend knit, no stated water-repellent finish where the The North Face is Cotton/nylon blend with DWR finish (likely fluorocarbon-based), which is most of the difference in these two grades.
- The gap is 45 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Columbia is the one to buy.
- We are less certain about the The North Face grade, at 45% confidence against 72%, because it discloses less.
Both products run through the same public rubric: 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 →
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