Summary
- ChemSec says most major PFAS producers are expanding manufacturing capacity despite tightening environmental scrutiny.
- AI infrastructure contributes through semiconductor manufacturing, thermal-management products, and some data-centre cooling applications.
- Changing chemicals regulation could turn material selection into a longer-term cooling, maintenance, and compliance issue.
Most major producers of PFAS chemicals are expanding manufacturing capacity, with demand from artificial-intelligence infrastructure, semiconductor production, and data-centre cooling among the drivers identified by ChemSec.
The Swedish chemicals campaign group’s latest review of large PFAS manufacturers concludes that most are increasing production despite growing litigation, environmental scrutiny, and the prospect of tighter restrictions on highly persistent fluorinated substances.
ChemSec identifies three main areas behind the growth: AI and data-centre infrastructure, semiconductor manufacturing, and lithium-ion battery materials.
The data-centre exposure appears at several points in the supply chain. Advanced processors depend on fluorinated materials during semiconductor fabrication, while some refrigerants, thermal-management products, fluoropolymers, and specialist cooling applications also use substances falling within the broad PFAS family.
That does not mean all data-centre cooling systems use PFAS or that all substances grouped under the label have identical properties. PFAS covers a large range of chemicals with different applications, exposure pathways, and potential alternatives.
ChemSec says Chemours remains particularly dependent on PFAS production and is developing products aimed at data-centre cooling, while Solstice has expanded its position in electronics, thermal-management, and AI supply chains.
The report also points to increased fluoropolymer capacity associated with semiconductor manufacturing and battery materials, illustrating how data-centre growth intersects with other sectors competing for the same specialist chemical production.
There are exceptions. 3M completed its withdrawal from PFAS manufacturing at the end of 2025, while BASF has announced plans to phase out most products formulated with PFAS by 2028. Other manufacturers are developing alternatives in selected applications.
ChemSec is an advocacy organisation campaigning for broad restrictions on PFAS, so its policy recommendations should be read in that context. Its survey of announced production plans nevertheless identifies a supply-chain issue relevant to data-centre engineering.
The sector’s cooling requirements are changing quickly as AI hardware increases rack densities. Conventional air cooling still serves much of the installed base, but dense accelerator clusters are accelerating adoption of direct-to-chip liquid systems, coolant distribution units, and more powerful heat-rejection infrastructure.
Operators evaluating those systems typically concentrate first on thermal performance, energy use, reliability, maintainability, and compatibility with IT equipment. Chemicals regulation can introduce another lifecycle consideration.
A fluid, refrigerant, seal, cable material, or component specified during design may remain in service for years. If regulation changes during that period, an operator can face new handling, leakage-control, disposal, maintenance, or replacement requirements even if the system continues to perform technically.
The engineering risk is therefore not limited to the fluid circulating closest to the processors. Chillers, heat pumps, electrical equipment, batteries, cable systems, and semiconductor components can all bring fluorinated materials into the wider infrastructure chain.
That makes accurate product-level assessment important. Treating every fluorinated substance or every cooling technology as equivalent would obscure the practical differences between applications and could lead to poor procurement decisions.
European regulation will be particularly important because restrictions under consideration could affect both equipment manufactured within the region and imported products placed on the market.
Operators and suppliers consequently have an incentive to understand the chemical composition, regulatory outlook, and replacement options associated with critical cooling and electrical components rather than evaluating equipment purely on initial efficiency.
Data-centre sustainability reporting has traditionally concentrated on electricity, carbon, and water. The expansion identified by ChemSec shows that AI infrastructure also has a materials dimension. As thermal systems become more complex and chemicals regulation tightens, the substances embedded in cooling and semiconductor supply chains are likely to become a more visible part of lifecycle risk.
