The dataset / Edition 2026-10-08

The Coating Disclosure Census

PFAS is a question about coatings, so we counted how often the maker says what the coating is. Across 11,415 graded consumer products, 4,920 carry a non-stick coating or a water or stain repellent finish. Only 209 of them name the chemistry.

Published October 8, 2026. Frozen at that date and free to cite. Last product graded before the count October 7, 2026.

What makers actually say

Each product gets exactly one material classification, the strongest signal found in its published materials. Three of the seven amount to naming a chemistry. Four amount to describing the performance and stopping there.

Where disclosure happens, and where it never does

Every category with 20 or more treated products, 41 of them, ordered by how many products keep the chemistry unstated. In 28 of these categories not one product names a coating chemistry. Naming it is almost entirely a kitchen habit, because a pan has to say ceramic or PTFE to sell, and a tent does not.

How the count was made

Every product in the dataset is scored against one published rubric from its materials, ingredient list, certifications, brand disclosures and any third-party lab result that exists. The rubric assigns each product exactly one material classification, the strongest coating signal found, so the three classifications that amount to naming a chemistry and the four that do not are mutually exclusive. The script that builds each edition refuses to publish if any product ever carries two.

What this does not say

• Grades and classifications are assessments made against a published rubric from materials, ingredient lists, certifications, brand disclosures and third-party lab results where they exist. They are not laboratory tests, and nothing here is a measurement of PFAS in a product.
• Chemistry not named means no coating chemistry was found in the published materials read for that product. It is not evidence that a product contains PFAS, and not proof the maker has never stated one anywhere.
• Counts cover active products in categories that have not been merged, one material classification per product.
• Two rows of the category table, Grease-Resistant Butcher & Deli Paper and Grease-Resistant Deli & Butcher Paper, cover the same product class under two category records that have not been merged. Add them together before quoting that class.
• This census counts disclosure, not contamination. A product that names no chemistry may well have a perfectly benign one. That is the point. There is no way for a shopper, or for us, to tell.

Reuse and the machine-readable copy

Free to cite, quote, chart and reprint with attribution to PFAS Authority (pfasauthority.com) and a link to this page. No permission needed and no notice required. Every figure above, plus every category row, is served as JSON at /api/public/coating-disclosure, CORS open. A writer who needs a cut we have not published, by brand, retailer or product class, can ask for it.

PFAS Authority, “The Coating Disclosure Census, edition 2026-10-08”, pfasauthority.com/data/coating-disclosure, accessed [date].