Dickies · Stain-Resistant Professional Workwear
Dickies Men's Original 874 Work Pants - Khaki 32
Lower concern. Bare cotton work pants, no water-resistant finish.
Dickies 874s are plain cotton twill with no disclosed water-repellent or stain-resistant treatment. Cotton itself carries minimal PFAS risk, though some dyes or finishing could introduce them without brand transparency.
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Material
100% cotton duck fabric
Brand disclosure
Brand is silent on PFAS
Lab data
No public lab test
What Dickies Men's Original 874 Work Pants is made of, ingredients and materials
These pants are woven from 100% cotton duck, a heavy-duty plain-weave fabric typically 14-16 oz per square yard. Cotton duck contains no synthetic polymers, coatings, or permanent finishes in its raw form, which eliminates entire classes of chemical leaching risks present in treated or blended fabrics. The khaki color is achieved through standard industrial dyes applied to the fiber before weaving; modern cotton dyeing uses primarily reactive and vat dyes, which are considered low-risk once cured and rinsed during manufacturing. No water-resistant, stain-resistant, or flame-retardant chemical treatments are applied to this garment, further reducing exposure pathways.
What’s concerning
Category baseline
The starting point for this type of product, before anything specific to this product is counted.
No PFAS disclosure
No public statement from the brand about PFAS in this product.
Microfiber shedding or degradation
Cotton garments release fibers during washing and wear, but these are biodegradable plant cellulose, not plastic microfibers. This poses no chemical or toxicological hazard, though aquatic fiber load is an environmental consideration unrelated to product safety.
What’s reassuring
Base material not linked to PFAS
The main material recorded for this product is not one associated with PFAS.
Azo dyes (color fastness concern, not acute toxicity)
Khaki cotton duck uses standard industrial azo dyes; these are fixed to fiber during dyeing and do not leach measurably into skin or sweat under normal use. No contamination or fast-dye incidents have been reported for this product or brand.
Formaldehyde / VOCs
100% cotton duck without a permanent-press or stain-resist finish contains no formaldehyde-releasing resins. Trace formaldehyde may be present as a manufacturing residue, but concentrations in untreated cotton are below regulatory concern thresholds.
Source, ATSDR ↗Heavy metals
Modern khaki vat and reactive dyes do not require lead, cadmium, or chromium mordants. No trace metal contamination has been established for Dickies cotton basics in available literature.
Source, FDA ↗Stitching and metal hardware corrosion
Polyester thread and metal buttons or rivets are standard in workwear. Corrosion from sweat is cosmetic; no nickel or lead contamination from hardware has been documented in this product category at this price point.
The full breakdown
The brand's record and disclosure
Dickies is a legacy workwear manufacturer (founded 1922) with no major consumer safety recalls or chemical exposure allegations on record for apparel products. The brand has not published detailed chemical disclosure statements, restricted substance lists, or third-party certifications (e.g., Oeko-Tex, GOTS) for this product line, which is typical of conventional workwear manufacturers that do not market around chemical safety. No published controversies regarding formaldehyde, azo dyes, or heavy metals in Dickies cotton basics are documented in regulatory or news databases.
How it compares in its category
Uncoated 100% cotton work pants represent the simplest chemical profile in the apparel category. This approach contrasts with stretch-blend work pants (which may contain polyester treated with antimony catalysts or synthetic dyes), water-resistant or stain-resistant variants (which use PFAS or fluorocarbon coatings), or vintage-styled twills with heavy finishes. The 874 Original sits at the baseline of workwear complexity, offering fewer chemical processing steps than most alternatives.
If you buy it
Wash new pants before wearing to remove residual dyes and processing chemicals; hot water and gentle detergent are standard. Cotton duck does not degrade from normal washing, heat, or UV exposure; these pants typically last 2-4 years with heavy use before seams or fabric fray significantly. No special care beyond normal laundry is required. If color fading or pilling appears after 1-2 years, it is cosmetic wear, not a safety issue.
What we don’t know
- Basis
- Model estimate, 72% confidence, not a lab result
- Lab test
- None on record for this exact product
- Brand statement
- Dickies has made none
Formulations change between production runs, so check the current label. How we grade.
More stain-resistant professional workwear grades
How we score, every product runs through the same public 0-100 rubric based on materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls. See the full methodology → Spotted a mistake? Report an error.