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The nonprofit's latest report connects the AI boom's insatiable appetite for chips and cooling systems to a wave of 'forever chemicals' expansion
The AI industry’s hunger for semiconductors and data center cooling is fueling something less discussed than GPU shortages: a massive expansion of PFAS production, according to a warning from ChemSec, the international nonprofit focused on safer chemical alternatives.
ChemSec describes the planned ramp-up as a “tidal wave” of forever chemicals manufacturing, driven primarily by the fluoropolymers and specialty fluids that underpin both chip fabrication and the advanced cooling systems keeping dense GPU clusters from melting down.
Chemours at the center #
Chemours, one of the world’s largest PFAS producers, is expanding capacity at its facilities in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Parkersburg, West Virginia. The company is actively marketing products like Teflon PFA and Opteon 2P50 as essential components for semiconductor manufacturing and data center cooling fluids.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, serve as etchants and photolithography resists in chipmaking, processes where precision at the nanometer scale leaves little room for substitution. They don’t break down in the environment, and contamination from existing Chemours production sites is already a well-documented concern. Environmental groups are questioning whether approving new PFAS capacity at those same locations is wise.
ChemSec’s 2025 ChemScore report, which rates major chemical companies on their transparency and efforts to phase out hazardous substances, gave Chemours a score of zero.
The AI supply chain’s chemical dependency #
The global PFAS market sits at roughly $28 billion, dominated by a handful of major chemical manufacturers. The explosion in AI workloads requires two things that intersect with PFAS: more semiconductors and better cooling.
Modern AI data centers pack thousands of GPUs into tight configurations that generate extraordinary heat. Immersion cooling and two-phase cooling systems, which submerge hardware directly in engineered fluids, have become increasingly attractive solutions. Many of those fluids are PFAS-based.
A diverging industry #
Ecolab and 3M have both announced timelines to reduce their intentional use of PFAS. 3M announced plans to exit PFAS manufacturing entirely, a move that effectively cedes market share to producers like Chemours who are doubling down.
The regulatory landscape is already shifting. The EU has proposed one of the most sweeping PFAS restrictions ever considered, potentially covering thousands of substances. In the US, the EPA has been tightening drinking water standards for several PFAS compounds, which indirectly raises the cost and scrutiny associated with new production.
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