Shaw Develops New Testing Method to Detect PFAS in Manufacturing Materials

Dalton, Georgia, December 20, 2025-Shaw Industries has developed a new testing methodology designed to detect perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in manufacturing materials, after determining that existing testing protocols were insufficient for many non-drinking-water-based inputs.

The company said the methodology was created as part of its ongoing efforts to prevent PFAS from entering its manufacturing processes. Shaw stopped using PFAS-based materials for soil- and stain-resistant treatments in all U.S. carpet manufacturing operations by January 2019 and subsequently required third-party suppliers to provide materials that did not contain PFAS.

Despite those measures, Shaw’s environmental team found that additional safeguards were necessary. According to the company, suppliers were sometimes unaware that PFAS were present in the materials they supplied, and commonly used testing methods did not reliably identify PFAS in certain substances.

“When materials we purchased were tested using existing drinking water protocols, they would show non-detect for PFAS,” said Kellie Ballew, vice president of environmental affairs. “What we discovered is that drinking water testing wasn’t accurate for soaps, oils, resins and other solid materials-really anything other than drinking water.”

Ballew said that because no suitable testing approach existed for those materials, Shaw developed its own methodology to address the gap.

PFAS are a broad class of chemicals-numbering in the thousands-that have been used since the 1940s in a wide range of industrial and consumer applications. They are found in products such as food packaging, cosmetics, personal care items and other everyday goods.