Computer chips, with a side of chemicals forever

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Some of the stories that I worked on as an environmental journalist are still chasing me. Among the first to get my skin was to be around chemicals forever.

Since the 1940s, chemicals have been used forever common by manufacturers as a way to make matters resistant to water, spots and heat. He thinks Food packagingand Impact articleand Water outdoor equipmentAnd even Time -resistant underwear. They are also used to making a lot of technology that we have reached; One sub -category of chemical Used in the lithium ion battery Eleles and folders. Now, there is increasing concern that chemicals Everywhere in the manufacture of computer chipsThe industry began to see emission in the United States.

Technically known as PER-Polyloooalkyl (PFAs), it is called chemicals forever due to the strong molecular bonds that prevent them from collapse even in harsh conditions. It also means that it can remain in the environment for hundreds or even thousands of years and perhaps In the human body For several years. Most people in the United States have already PFAS in their blood, According to the national health surveys by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Which included a PFAS test since 1999. People eat food Drink water Continued with chemicals, or may be exposed if they live near the factory or work in a factory where there is PFAS.

Researchers are still trying to understand the complete effect that these chemicals can cause on the human body. Some of the chemicals were already most widely used linked To healthy effects such as kidney and testicular cancer, high blood pressure and pregnancy poisoning in pregnancy, high cholesterol in cholesterol, and more.

The ground collapse of the lawsuits forced some companies to do something about their pollution. Companies including 3M (Scotchgard Maker) and Dunton (TEFLON) Below or Exit Chemicals. The levels of two forms of the most prevalent PFAs have decreased in the blood of Americans by 70 and 85 percent with low production and use over the past two decades, according to Disease Control Center. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) The boundaries that have ended Five of the most types of chemicals forever in drinking water last year.

The problem was solved, right? Unfortunately, it is not so simple. There is actually Thousands of different types From chemicals forever. New health concerns have emerged Chemicals What is meant to replace the most notorious PFAS types.

Oh, and only disruption may be the favorite word of the Environmental Protection Agency under the Trump administration. In May, it is Suggested drinking water standards for PFAS ingenuity. the The agency says it is planning Extending the deadlines for compliance with two types of PFAs and canceling the current regulations for the remaining three types.

All this happens as President Donald Trump follows in the footsteps of former President Joe Biden when it comes to trying to manufacture computer slices on the beach, in the wake of Lack of semiconductor global conductors This wanders in all types of industries from games to cars. Artificial intelligence, depends on more advanced chips, raised risks.

Companies that make chemicals forever Scent. For example, The Dupont-Spinoff Chemours on its website says its role is “indispensable” in paying to build a local supply chain of semiconductors. The company manufactures Teflon, which is used in the manufacture of chips due to its resistance to heat and corrosion. Chemours is also Growth Liquids that can be used to cool servers in databases in a process called Dual -phase indulge, which usually includes pfas.

Chemours has already made plans to expand its facilities Vitville, North CarolinaAnd Parkersburg, West VirginiaTo support her ambitions. This has not surprisedly sparked red flags of health and environmental preachers, taking into account the past in the past with PFAS. The Fayetteville facility was found responsible for pollution of water supply wells and placed under a Approval in 2019 To reduce pollution. In March, the organizers of North Carolina Tell Chemours To expand the good test near the Vitelville facility to 150,000 additional homes at the risk of potential PFAs pollution. In August, a federal judge I command Chemours L He stopped launching illegal quantities of chemicals forever in the Ohio River in West Virginia.

Not only chemours under the microscope. Fears were raised About FABS new semiconductors in the United States, including the chemicals they use and the risks they can form for close workers and residents. The Association of Semi-conductors actually gathered the PFAS-which has been joined by Chemours and Dupont- because PFAS “seems to be likely to disrupt the supply chain manufactured for cheese and requires an approach at the level of the supply chain,” according to July 2024 2024 said. Common questions document.

Now, however, the industry is in an organizational environment more suitable for chemicals under Trump’s management. Trump Artificial Intelligence Action Plan It aims to accelerate the development of the data center in part Rapid decline in tracking and reducing environmental reviews For semiconductor facilities and relevant “materials”. In July, the President granted “some chemical manufacturers that produce chemicals related to semiconductors.” Exemptions from Pollution regulations during the Biden era. A former lawyer in the chemical industry, who now has a great position in the Environmental Protection Agency, has worked to back down from another base of the Baiden era that makes companies responsible for cleaning PFAS pollution they create, New York Times I mentioned.

The press secretary, Environmental Protection Agency, Caroline Holran freedom The Environmental Protection Agency is still “pollutants accounting” and that “decisions have not been taken” regarding the change of the proposed rule that was reported by The New York Times. A spokesman Jess Louiso said in an e -mail that Chemours is investing in “modern emissions techniques” in its manufacturing sites to reduce chemical versions. freedom.

The Environmental Protection Agency still has to put the final touches on al -Qaeda changes and may face legal battles because it tries to reduce water and air protection. It has already taken forever to start getting a grip on the PFAS problem, and the chemicals appear to be ready to get around for a longer period as the Trump administration gives priority to standard cancellation and demand for computer chips that are not abandoned.