Cookware lab test tracker: 6 public PFAS reports by brand

Six public lab reports on cookware coatings could be opened and read as of October 2026: Light Labs reports commissioned by Made In, Caraway and HexClad, a 96-compound Consumer Reports test, a Lead Safe Mama XRF scan of Caraway, and Mamavation's air fryer survey. Each entry lists who tested, when, which method, the result, and a link. Brands with a "PFAS-free" box and no report are not here; that absence is the point.

Three kinds of test, and why PFOA-free is not PFAS-free

Cookware lab reports use one of three methods, each answering a different question.

• Total organic fluorine (TOF). The lab burns a sample, measures all fluorine, subtracts inorganic fluoride, and reports organic fluorine in parts per million. Because nearly every PFAS contains organic fluorine, a high number is a screening flag; it cannot name the compound (Mamavation, PFAS screening methodology).
• Targeted PFAS panel. The lab looks for a fixed list of named compounds, commonly 30 to 200+, using liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry. Made In describes its Light Labs method as extraction by heated migration into water or surface scrapings, then LC-MS/MS with isotopically labeled internal standards (Made In). A panel misses anything not on its list, including the polymer PTFE itself.
• XRF for metals. A handheld X-ray fluorescence gun reads the elements in a surface in ppm: what is in the material, not what moves into food.

PFOA-free matters here because PFOA is one named compound U.S. makers phased out by 2015 under an EPA program (EPA). Under the OECD's 2021 definition, which counts any substance with a fully fluorinated methyl or methylene carbon, fluoropolymers such as PTFE are PFAS (Wikipedia, PFAS). So a PTFE pan can be PFOA-free and still be a PFAS pan. The label logic is unpacked in PFAS-free vs PFOA-free vs non-toxic.

The tracker, by brand

Made In, CeramiClad (sol-gel ceramic nonstick)

• Who tested: Light Labs (ISO 17025 accredited), commissioned by Made In.
• Date: September 22, 2025 for CeramiClad; other lines February to September 2025.
• Method: targeted PFAS panel by LC-MS/MS after heated migration into water or surface scrapings; separate heavy-metals and BPA tests.
• Result: 30 of 30 PFAS, 4 of 4 heavy metals and 3 of 3 BPA tests passed, per the maker's summary, which describes the data but does not link the raw report.
• Report: Made In testing summary.

Caraway, ceramic nonstick (Light Labs)

• Who tested: Light Labs, commissioned by Caraway.
• Date: January 26, 2026.
• Method: targeted panel covering PTFE, PFOA and 200+ other fluorinated compounds, plus heavy metals, bisphenols, phthalates, PAHs and total extractives.
• Result: all not detected at the lab's reporting limits.
• Report: Light Labs comprehensive testing report, Caraway.

Caraway, ceramic nonstick (XRF)

• Who tested: Tamara Rubin, Lead Safe Mama, with a handheld XRF instrument.
• Date: posted August 3, 2021, updated March 8, 2024.
• Method: XRF reading of the food surface, exterior, handle and rivets. It measures total metal content in the surface, not leaching into food; the post says so.
• Result: lead 14 to 51 ppm on food surface, exterior and rivets; antimony 11 to 45 ppm; cobalt 995 ppm, mercury 26 ppm and cadmium 3 ppm on handle rivets; titanium 115,300 to 156,900 ppm on the food surface.
• Report: Lead Safe Mama, Caraway XRF results.
• Read both Caraway entries together: the 2026 panel says nothing migrates at detectable levels; the 2021 XRF says metals exist in the layers. Different questions.

Our Place Always Pan, Red Copper, Swiss Diamond (Consumer Reports)

• Who tested: Consumer Reports, through an outside lab.
• Date: published October 26, 2022.
• Method: technicians scraped coatings from 30 samples of each pan and tested for 96 PFAS compounds.
• Result: the two ceramic pans, Always Pan and Red Copper, showed none of the 96 compounds. The PTFE-coated Swiss Diamond, labeled PFOA-free, averaged 4 ppb PFOA in the coating, with total PFAS of 639 ppb and 703 ppb in two samples (KSAT summary).
• Report: Consumer Reports. CR's buying guide for PFAS-avoiders (updated September 22, 2026) names the OXO Stainless Steel Mira, Caraway ceramic and Calphalon cast iron among its picks (Consumer Reports).
• The tested pan was the original Always Pan. The current Our Place Always Pan 2.0 ($95.00, 4.3 stars, 3,531 ratings on Amazon as of October 2026) was not in that test.

HexClad, TerraBond ceramic (Light Labs)

• Who tested: Light Labs, commissioned by HexClad.
• Date: 2025, after the brand's 2024 move from PTFE to TerraBond.
• Method: targeted PFAS panel. PFAS only; no heavy-metals test was published.
• Result: every PFAS analyte below the lab's reporting limits, per LeafScore's reading of the report; the coating's full composition is still not disclosed (LeafScore). The report itself would not open for us; this entry rests on LeafScore.
• Context: HexClad settled a $2.5 million class action in 2025 over non-toxic and PFAS-free marketing on earlier PTFE pans, without admitting wrongdoing; claims closed November 14, 2025 (Chowhound). Full story in Is HexClad non-toxic?.

Air fryers, roughly 80 models (Mamavation)

• Who tested: Mamavation, a consumer blog that uses an EPA-certified lab for TOF.
• Date: page updated December 22, 2025; about 40 products in 2021, about 80 by 2023.
• Method: the page sorts brands into "Not Our Favorite," "Better" and "Best" mainly on coating disclosure and reports that most brands evaded questions about their nonstick. It does not publish ppm values per model, so read it as a disclosure survey, not a lab table (Mamavation, air fryers).
• Why it is here: Minnesota's cookware definition reaches air fryers with nonstick parts (Packaging Law); see our air fryer basket materials guide.

The laws forcing more reports

• Minnesota: Amara's Law bans intentionally added PFAS in cookware from January 1, 2025, and the state agency says PTFE counts (MPCA). The industry's trade group sued in federal court in January 2025 to block it; the case was pending at last report (Homepage News).
• Colorado (SB24-81), Vermont (S 25) and Maine: bans effective January 1, 2026. Rhode Island (SB 2152): January 1, 2027. California (AB 1200): labeling since 2023 (BCLP Law).
• Connecticut (SB 292): labeling from January 1, 2026, sales ban January 1, 2028 (Packaging Law).

Not yet on the tracker

The Ecology Center's "What's Cooking" report, Alva's Light Labs results and Mamavation's kettle test are on the January 2027 review list; their pages would not load for this update. No budget coated pan we review has a public third-party report we could find, including the Sensarte Ceramic Frying Pan with Lid ($26.99, 4.4 stars, 10,690 ratings on Amazon as of October 2026) and the Carote 20-Piece Titanium Nonstick Set ($99.99, 4.6 stars, 591 ratings); their PFAS-free and titanium wording is the maker's claim. Bare materials sidestep the question: the Cuisinart Chef's Classic Stainless 11-Piece Set ($113.15, 4.3 stars, 9,820 ratings) and the Lodge 10.25-Inch Cast Iron Skillet ($22.91, 4.6 stars, 87,490 ratings) have no coating to test; see our non-toxic cookware materials pillar.

How to read a lab report in 5 minutes

1. Who paid. A brand-commissioned report is real data, but the brand chose the lab, the sample and the test list. Consumer Reports chose its own.
2. What was sampled. Scrapings find what is in the layer; heated-water migration finds what comes out; XRF finds metals in place.
3. How many compounds. "30 of 30 passed" is a smaller net than 96 or 200+. TOF catches everything with organic fluorine, PTFE included, but names nothing.
4. Below reporting limit is not zero. Every lab has a floor, and Light Labs' reports note results reflect the submitted samples only, not future production (Light Labs).
5. Date and version. A 2022 test of the original Always Pan says nothing about a 2026 Always Pan 2.0.

If you have a health condition, ask your doctor; this tracker reports what labs found, not what it means for you.

Bottom line

As of October 2026 only a handful of cookware brands publish real lab reports; the strongest, Made In and Caraway through Light Labs, cover PFAS panels plus metals. Consumer Reports' 2022 test remains the only independent one that caught a PFOA-free pan with PFOA in it. HexClad has a PFAS-only screen; most budget brands have only a label. State bans from 2025 to 2028 will force more disclosure. Last updated October 2026, next review January 2027.

Sources

• Mamavation, PFAS screening methodology — accessed 2026-10-09
• Made In, 2025 testing and results — accessed 2026-10-09
• EPA, 2010/2015 PFOA Stewardship Program — accessed 2026-10-09
• Wikipedia, Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (OECD 2021 definition) — accessed 2026-10-09
• Light Labs, Caraway comprehensive testing report — accessed 2026-10-09
• Lead Safe Mama, Caraway XRF results — accessed 2026-10-09
• Consumer Reports, You Can't Always Trust Claims on Non-Toxic Cookware — accessed 2026-10-09
• KSAT, You can't always trust non-toxic claims on cookware, tests show — accessed 2026-10-09
• Consumer Reports, Best Frying Pans If You Want to Avoid PFAS Chemicals — accessed 2026-10-09
• LeafScore, Are HexClad pans worth it? — accessed 2026-10-09
• Chowhound, HexClad settlement — accessed 2026-10-09
• Mamavation, Safest air fryers — accessed 2026-10-09
• Keller and Heckman Packaging Law, Minnesota defines cookware covered by PFAS ban — accessed 2026-10-09
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 2025 PFAS prohibitions — accessed 2026-10-09
• Homepage News, Cookware group sues Minnesota — accessed 2026-10-09
• BCLP Law, PFAS in cookware: state-by-state regulations — accessed 2026-10-09
• Keller and Heckman Packaging Law, Several states expand PFAS bans to include cookware — accessed 2026-10-09