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PFAS Chemical Linked to Weight Gain Found in Oral-B Glide Dental Floss 5

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Just when you thought you were safe because you already switched to a safer toothpaste, Oral-B Glide dental floss was caught with a chemical inside their specialized dental floss that is linked to serious health issues, including infertility, low sperm quality, smaller penis size, weight gain, and lower vaccine effectiveness. Oral-B Glide dental floss is made with toxic PFAS chemicals according to a study by the Silent Sprint Institute in collaboration with the Public Health Institute in Berkeley, California. Because of the toxicity and persistence of PFAS chemicals, Mamavation is recommending that you immediately cease use of this dental floss and purchase a better brand. We’ve got plenty of suggestions at the bottom of this post. You’ve trusted Mamavation to bring you topics like are you pooping plastic?, chemicals in personal care linked to early puberty in girls, & safest shampoo brands, now join us as we explore the Oral-B Glide study and the implications to your family’s health.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

What Are PFAS Chemicals & Why Are They a Concern to Public Health

PFAS chemicals or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are water and grease-proof chemicals that we have become incredibly popular over decades. If you’ve heard of “Teflon,” “Gor-Tex,” or brands like “Stainmaster” carpet, you’ve already heard of them. You’ll find these chemicals in food packaging like popcorn bags, stain-resistant carpeting & clothing, camping equipment, nonstick cookware, and some personal care products like dental floss.

Companies producing PFAS chemicals swear by their safety and the brands that use state the same. But these chemicals are endocrine disrupting and extremely problematic to human health and the environment. And the worst part is they are persistent, meaning they build up and don’t go away. And because of all this, they have been linked to several health issues that your family doesn’t want.

Based on the persistence of this chemical inside the body, it’s incredibly dangerous to be exposed throughout a lifetime because it will continue to build up. Therefore, it’s important to avoid these chemicals as much as possible.

The Silent Spring Study Finding PFAS Chemicals in Dental Floss

New research published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology offers insight into how PFAS chemicals are getting into the bodies of Americans and how they can limit their exposure. “This is the first study to show that using dental floss containing PFAS is associated with a higher body burden of these chemicals,” says lead author Katie Boronow from the Silent Spring Institute. “The good news is, based on our findings, consumers can choose flosses that don’t contain PFAS.”

Researchers measured 11 PFAS chemicals in the blood of 178 women using particle-induced γ-ray emission (PIGE) spectroscopy. These women were enrolled in the Public Health Institute’s Child Health and Developmental Studies, which has been studying the impact of environmental chemicals on disease in Americans. Half of these women were African American and half were non-Hispanic white women, but all were middle-aged. To first understand their habits, they were asked about nine different behaviors that could lead to higher exposure, including what brands they used. Then their urine was tested for several PFAS chemicals. It turned out, the women how used Oral-B Glide dental floss had a tendency to display to highest levels of PFAS chemicals, in particular, a chemical called PFHxS (perfluorohexanesulfonic acid).

The researchers then tested different dental flosses to get a better picture of what brands were the culprits. They tested 18 dental flosses, including 3 from Oral-B. All three Oral-B dental flosses tested positive for fluorine, as did two other store brands that were the generic form of Oral-B. Another floss touting itself as “single strand Teflon fiber” tested positive for fluorine as well. Here’s a breakdown of their findings.

  • African American women had lower levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) compared with non-Hispanic white women
  • African Americans, but not others, frequent consumption of prepared food in coated cardboard containers was associated with higher levels of four PFASs in their urine
  • Flossing with Oral-B Glide resulted in higher levels of PFAS in urine
  • Having stain-resistant carpet resulted in higher levels of PFAS in urine
  • Having stain-resistent furniture resulted in higher levels of PFAS in urine
  • Living in a city served by a PFAS-contaminated water supply were also associated with higher levels of some PFASs

Tips On How to Avoid PFAS In Your Home

The perfluorinated chemical category is all about making things grease-proof, water-proof and stain-proof. So think about stain-proof clothing & carpeting, nonstick pans & bakeware, fast food wrappers, contaminated water, etc. And here is a list of what you can do today to start avoiding these chemicals in your life.

  • Phase out the nonstick cookware in your kitchen. Here are some alternatives.
  • Avoid foods with packaging and make things yourself at home
  • Avoid fast food as much as possible, even the ones touting themselves as “better”
  • Purchase a reverse osmosis water system for your home
  • When purchasing furniture or carpet, decline optional treatments for stain and dirt resistance. This is where you can find safer furniture. 
  • Avoid buying clothing that bears a label indicating it’s water, stain or dirt repellant
  • Avoid buying personal care products with the phrase “fluoro” or “perfluoro” on the ingredient list. You’ll find this inside lotion, pressed powders, nail polish, dental floss and shaving cream.
  • Dust more!  PFAS chemicals stick to dust particles so the more dust you have in your home, the more likely you will have PFAS in the air you breathe. Click here for our FREE eBook on how to clean your indoor air. 

Mamavation’s Investigation of Dental Floss and Indications of PFAS “Forever Chemicals”

Mamavation sent 39 different dental floss products off to an EPA-certified laboratory to look for indications of PFAS “forever chemicals.” Samples had many flavors, including cinnamon, peppermint, mint, and strawberry. We did not test any toothbrushes, interdental cleaner, interdental brushes, dental picks, or dental tape. Mamavation’s lab used marker testing to identify the potential presence of PFAS “forever chemicals” in dental floss products. Organic fluorine is a marker for PFAS because all PFAS chemicals are carbon-based compounds that contain fluorine.  The specific lab method used by Mamavation tested for total fluorine was the Determination of Total Fluorine by Oxygen Flask Combustion and Ion-Selective Electrode. If total fluorine was observed at a detection level of 10 ppm, the lab did the Determination of free Fluoride Ion in the dental floss by Ion-Selective Electrode and then subtracted that from the Total Fluorine to determine the amount of organic fluorine. This marker testing is likely to show the presence of PFAS.

13 brands out of the 39 products we tested came back with detectable levels of organic fluorine, which means PFAS was likely present. Testing for PFAS directly is impossible to do because there are over 12,000 different compounds. This marker testing is also used by the food packaging industry to determine whether products are “compostable” or not.

Here are the categories you’ll see below to divide the dental floss products tested by our EPA-certified lab:

  • Not Our Favorite Tooth Floss Products: According to our EPA-certified laboratory, these products contain detections of organic fluorine, which is a chemical marker for PFAS “forever chemicals.” This section represents some products that have levels that are clearly intentionally added, while other brands have levels that are more “unintentionally added” from contamination somewhere. Brands with jaw-dropping amounts of organic fluorine we marked with **.
  • Better Tooth Floss Products: These brands did not have any detections of organic fluorine. However, they are made with less sustainable materials like single-use plastic, which are problematic because they take hundreds of years to decompose in a landfill. The amount of plastic used by most “flossers” is problematic for our environment.
  • Best Tooth Floss Products: Our lab did not identify organic fluorine in any of these brands. We also admire these brands for their use of more sustainable materials and high-quality ingredients. There were a few “flossers” that made it into this category for their lack of single-use petroleum-based plastics.

asian woman holding tooth floss

“Not Our Favorite” Tooth Floss Brands

According to our EPA-certified laboratory, these products contain detections of organic fluorine, which is a chemical marker for PFAS “forever chemicals.” This section represents some products that have levels that are clearly intentionally added, while other brands have levels that are more “unintentionally added” from contamination somewhere. Brands with jaw-dropping amounts of organic fluorine we marked with **.

  • Burst Refillable Dental Floss Juniper & Berry — 208 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine
  • **Colgate Total Mint Waxed Dental Floss — 91,400 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine
  • drTungs Smart Floss — 48 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine
  • EcoRoots Bamboo Floss — 23 & 14 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine (2 samples)
  • Listerine Reach Ultraclean Floss — 16 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine
  • **Oral B Glide Pro-Health Deep Clean Floss — 248,900 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine (This product is quite possibly 24% PFAS!!!!!!)
  • **Solimo (Amazon) Extra Comfort Mint Dental Floss — 94,200 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine
  • RiseWell Scrubby Floss — 11 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine
  • Rite Aid Premium Waxed Dental Floss — 17 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine
  • **Up & Up (Target) Smooth Slide Floss Mint — 74,400 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine
  • Wellnesse 100% Biodegradable Silk Peppermint Floss — 14 & 22 parts per million (ppm) organic fluorine (2 samples) (This brand is in the process of reformulating. They have identified the problem, but have not implemented changes yet. We will update the investigation when they have reformulated.)

woman with silvery hair holding tooth floss

Better Tooth Floss Brands

These brands did not have any detections of organic fluorine. However, they are made with less sustainable materials like single-use plastic, which are problematic because they take hundreds of years to decompose in a landfill. The amount of plastic used by most “flossers” should not be allowed, but sadly, it is.

Close-up Of A Woman Looking In Mirror Flossing Teeth with bath towel on her head

Best Tooth Floss Brands

Our lab did not identify organic fluorine in any of these brands. We also admire these brands for their use of more sustainable materials and high-quality ingredients. There were a few “flossers” that made it into this category for their lack of single-use petroleum-based plastics.

Picture of adult woman flossing her teeth

PFAS Consumer Studies Mamavation Has Released & More!

Mamavation has been commissioning studies looking for PFAS “forever chemicals” inside everyday products you use. These chemicals also show up in plastics because some plastics are fluorinated.

We are continuing to test and run studies and if you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, simply go to Environmental Health News and donate on behalf of Mamavation. Environmental Health News & Institute for Green Science at Carnegie Mellon University has partnered with us on most of our PFAS studies and provides support & more scientific scrutiny.

Here are the PFAS consumer investigations we have finished:

We also have other investigations you may like.

For a complete list of Mamavation investigations go here.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous

    Considering actual health research into the effects of weight gain have shown that gaining weight in an of itself is not as harmful as all the ‘obesity epidemic’ scaremongering has us believe, and the fact that PFAS have so many more potential dangerous side effects like reduced vaccine efficacy, could you maybe not use weight gain in the title as a scare tactic to get people to read? Kind of mean to your fat readers to lead off with trying to scare people away from becoming like them, as if that’s the biggest issue here.

    Reply

  3. Sella

    The Coco floss on the Best Guys list says it is fragranced…I thought we should be avoiding anything with “fragrance”?

    Reply

  4. c

    So it contains a chemical linked to weight gain, but how much? And how much will I get when I floss and then spit?

    Reply

  6. Sharon

    Unfortunately, your Best Guys list also contains harmful ingredients. I don’t consider any products that contain xylitol to be safe – I have four dogs and five cats. Companies need to stop using xylitol in seemingly innocuous products – in all products, really.

    Reply

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