ChemSec survey: top PFAS makers plan output surge to meet AI datacentre demand
A survey of the world's 10 biggest forever-chemical producers finds nearly all plan to expand output, driven largely by AI datacentre cooling and semiconductor needs.
What to know
- ChemSec's survey of the 10 largest Pfas manufacturers found nearly all plan to increase production, driven largely by AI datacentre and semiconductor demand.
- Producers frame expansion around "eco-friendly" cooling systems and chip manufacturing, while campaigners call the chemicals a non-degrading threat to health and the environment.
- Only BASF (exiting by 2028) and Archroma (switching to Pfas-free alternatives) among the surveyed firms are moving away from production.
- Campaigners warn the expansion could undermine emerging Pfas restrictions in Europe, the UK and parts of the US unless regulators act.
“maintain and expand our top share in the industry by expanding sales of existing fluorine products and introducing new products”
Daikin, Japan-headquartered manufacturer · The Guardian ↗ · Sep 13
Anne-Sofie Bäckar Executive director, ChemSecBir Kapoor CEO, Gujarat FluorochemicalsChemours US Pfas producerDaikin Japan-headquartered Pfas/fluorine manufacturerBASF German chemicals giant
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts
-
1
Battery coatings named as parallel Pfas growth market
Producers including Gujarat Fluorochemicals pointed to Pfas coatings and binders for lithium-ion batteries used in EVs, laptops and phones as another growth area, while BASF and Archroma were named as the main firms moving away from Pfas.
“There is a tremendous growth opportunity there…”
— Bir Kapoor -
R
As if they weren't bad enough, AI data centers — which Trump strongly supports — could drive a surge in "forever chemical" production. And that's after Trump's EPA already approved new forever chemical pesticides and rolled back limits on them in our drinking water. "Make America Healthy Again."
2 more of the top 3 · 20 posts in this stretch
-
I
uh, ok "Despite alarm over the chemicals, which have been linked to cancer, a survey of the 10 biggest manufacturers found most had plans to increase production" https://www. theguardian.com/environment/20 26/sep/14/pfas-firms-tidal-wave-forever-chemicals-ai-industry-demand-datacentres # pollution # PFAS
-
The fact that you think that cloud gaming was ever a possibility kinda invalidates your opinion on GPU centers. The input/output bandwidth to computation ratio is close to one in gaming, so it was always going to be a cost prohibitive redundancy to do cloud rendering unless you had a fiber link, in which case it was basically a co-located GPU that…
-
-
background
Campaigners and critics warn of health and regulatory risks — Opponents said the non-degrading chemicals pose a long-term threat to human and planetary health and that expanded production could undermine nascent Pfas restrictions in Europe, the UK and parts of the US; critics also noted Chemours was recently ordered to pay $450m to settle a lawsuit over Pfas discharges.
-
background
Manufacturers cite AI datacentre cooling and chip demand — Daikin said it was launching a "datacentre hub", Arkema is building a $60m Kentucky refrigerant plant, and Chemours cited demand from "advanced datacenters and AI hardware" for its liquid cooling products.
-
background
ChemSec survey finds top Pfas makers plan output expansion — A survey of the 10 biggest Pfas manufacturers by Swedish watchdog ChemSec found nearly all had plans to increase production at sites in Europe, Asia and North America, driven largely by AI-related demand.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
-
first by theguardian.com, 10d ago · also Guardian Environment, Guardian
-
first by Mastodon, 6d ago · also Fortune
What people are saying 14 voices from 2 sites · best of 20 · verbatim
- Yesterday
-
A big family of flourinated compounds that are very bad for human health and the environment. They don't breakdown naturally and are very hard to get rid of. And as soon as regulators figure out one of them is bad industry just invents more.
- Sep 21
-
This is misleading. Those forever chemicals require electricity. Think refrigerator. The utility is using water to cool.the steam after it exits the turbines. The data center shifted the water use off their books onto the utility's books. The tech companies behind the centers are pulling a fast one. Don't fall for it. The stink is that there are…
- Sep 20
-
O
It's entirely possible that the AI race accelerates human extinction. Not due to a biblical cataclysm as the cultists would like you to believe, but because of poisoning the environment we depend on. https:// fortune.com/2026/09/18/data-ce nters-ai-compute-pfas-forever-chemicals-water/
- Sep 19
-
If they get wind of it the maga voters will be going wild to support it. They hate the EPA. One of the big things with the 77.3 million people who voted for trump is dumping any and all environmental regulations. They absolutely don't think waterways, wildlife, air quality, etc should have or needs any protection at all. Essentially it's cutting…
-
B
AI Data Centres Are Turning to ‘Forever Chemicals’ to Cut Water Use, Fueling PFAS Boom https://www. byteseu.com/2378942/ # FutureStudies # FuturesStudies # Futurology
- Sep 18
-
Less heat ejected through water vapour means more energy consumption to remove the heat from the fluid.
-
D
PFAS in the blood of 97% of Americans https:// fortune.com/2026/09/18/data-ce nters-ai-compute-pfas-forever-chemicals-water/
- Sep 17
-
R
AI and Forever Chemicals, Brown Brothers Media, AI Training Data, More: ResearchBuzz AI Update, September 17, 2026 AI PROBLEMS The Guardian: ‘Tidal wave’ of Pfas being launched to satisfy AI industry, campaigners warn…... http:// researchbuzz.me/2026/09/17/ai-…
- Sep 16
-
Donald Trump is a disgrace not only to America, but also to humanity and planet earth.
- Sep 15
-
D
No matter where you look there's poison. "Pfas are used for a new form of datacentre cooling touted as more water- and energy-efficient. Pfas also play a crucial role in the fabrication process for semiconductors, another sector booming to meet demand from the AI industry." https://www. theguardian.com/environment/20…
-
A
"#PFAS companies are launching a 'tidal wave' of forever chemicals production to meet demand from the AI industry... Despite alarm over the chemicals, which have been linked to # cancer , a survey of the 10 biggest manufacturers found most had plans to increase production. Many frame their investments around the 'AI revolution'... But opponents…
-
T
“New report from the Int’l Chemical Secretariat…found that an ongoing expansion by many of the world’s top 10 PFAS producers ‘is driven by 3 main sources of demand—AI & data center infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, & lithium-ion battery materials” https://www. commondreams.org/news/data-cen ters-and-pfas
- Sep 14
-
B
As @ gerrymcgovern says, capitalism really is a death cult. What are they thinking? https://www. theguardian.com/environment/20 26/sep/14/pfas-firms-tidal-wave-forever-chemicals-ai-industry-demand-datacentres # Collapse # environment
-
R
https://www. theguardian.com/environment/20 26/sep/14/pfas-firms-tidal-wave-forever-chemicals-ai-industry-demand-datacentres . "#PFAS # companies are launching a 'tidal wave' of # forever # chemicals # production to meet # demand from the # AI # industry , a # campaign # organisation has warned... [ChemSec]... found nearly all of the 10 biggest #…