New report by Swedish chemicals watchdog reveals how booming AI and electric vehicle industries are driving production demand of ‘forever chemicals’
By
A Swedish chemicals watchdog has revealed that most major PFAS – or ‘forever chemical’ – manufacturers are planning to increase production due to an uptick in demand from the AI and electric vehicle industries.
In the AI industry, PFAS are used in semiconductor manufacturing and for cooling data centres. In data centres, low-boiling PFAS fluids absorb heat from servers, then condense before being recycled. In electric vehicles, PFAS are used in batteries alongside cooling systems.
Analysts have warned that PFAS are ‘the hidden risk of the AI boom’, and could have ‘escalating potential for multibillion-euro remediation and litigation liabilities’.
Enjoying this article? Check out our related reads…
‘These expansion plans show that, unless governments and regulators insist on a rapid phase-out, we will face a new tidal wave of forever chemicals,’ said ChemSec’s Executive Director Anne-Sofie Bäckar.
In June, the CEO of US PFAS manufacturer Solstice told investors that strong AI demand represents a ‘generational opportunity’ for growth. Alongside this, Japanese multinational Daikin plans to more than triple its fluoropolymer – a type of PFAS – production capacity due to the booming semiconductor market.
The report, by ChemSec, an independent non-profit organisation advocating for the substitution of toxic chemicals with safer alternatives, stresses that the global trend toward expanding PFAS production could lead to restrictions on PFAS being swept aside.
There are only a few companies in the report not amping up their PFAS production: 3M and BASF. They have both announced they will cease production due to costly legal challenges over their PFAS pollution. Additionally, the Swiss-based company Archroma is marketing PFAS-free alternatives.
‘These companies are sending a signal to the rest of the industry – it can be done, and it must be done,’ said the report.
PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – are coined as ‘forever chemicals’ as they break down very slowly over time, often taking hundreds or even thousands of years to degrade. Due to their widespread nature and continued persistence in the environment, many forever chemicals are found in human blood and animals worldwide, as well as being present in food products.
They have been in use since the 1950s and have many applications, from medical and electrical devices to refrigeration systems, clothing, skin creams, and food packaging.
Two of the most studied chemicals in the PFAS family, PFOA and PFOS, have been shown to have toxic impacts on humans and wildlife. They can interfere with hormonal systems, reproductive systems, immune systems and promote the development of certain cancers, including kidney and testicular cancer. Many PFAS do not have toxicity data available.
