Do All Parchment Paper Have PFAS?

No. Most parchment paper sold in the US is paper with a thin silicone coating, and silicone is not a fluorinated material. The honest complication is that very few parchment brands say what their grease-resistant treatment is, and grease-resistant papers have historically been one of the places PFAS was used.

What the FDA has said

The US Food and Drug Administration announced on 28 February 2024 that grease-proofing substances containing PFAS are no longer being sold by manufacturers for food contact use in the US. The FDA named the kinds of packaging those substances had been used on, including fast-food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags and take-out paperboard containers. That announcement is about what manufacturers sell to packaging makers. It is not a test of any parchment roll on a shelf.

What our grades say

Our data holds 114 parchment paper rolls and sheets. 95 grade 25 out of 100, from Reynolds, Kirkland Signature, Amazon Basics, Wilton, King Arthur Baking, Member's Mark and most store brands, because the paper's grease-resistant treatment is unverified and the maker says nothing about PFAS. Fourteen sold as extra non-stick grade 20. That is not a finding that they contain PFAS, and most are recorded as silicone-coated.

If You Care is the exception at 90. If You Care describes its baking tools as having no added PFAS, and Mamavation reported in April 2021 that an EPA-certified lab found no total fluorine at or above 10 ppm in If You Care Parchment Baking Paper. Our full comparison is in the parchment paper guide.

Silicone coating versus a fluorinated treatment

A silicone coating is a cured layer of silicone polymer on the paper surface. A fluorinated grease-proofing treatment uses fluorine-containing chemistry to make paper repel oil. The two can look and feel alike, which is why a label that names the coating, or a lab test for total fluorine, tells you more than the paper does.

What to look for

• A maker that states in writing that the parchment has no added PFAS, and ideally published test data behind it.
• Silicone named as the coating, rather than an unnamed non-stick or grease-resistant treatment.
• Caution with words that describe something else. Unbleached, chlorine-free and compostable are claims about the paper, not its coating.

The simplest way around the question

A reusable silicone baking mat does most of what parchment does without a paper treatment at all. Plain silicone mats, Silpat included, grade 70 in our parchment and silicone baking mats guide, where none has a coating on record.

Every grade mentioned here is a model-based estimate built from disclosed materials and public data, not a laboratory result of our own, and nothing here is being called PFAS-free or safe by us.