A coalition of 17 environmental groups has submitted formal comments to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging officials to reject a new Pfas chemical that Chemours is seeking to fast-track for cooling datacenters. The groups accuse Chemours of using bad science to downplay the chemical's toxicity and climate risks, and warn that approval would violate the law.
Accusations of Bad Science
The comments, led by the Earthjustice legal non-profit, allege a litany of flaws in Chemours' application for Opteon 2P50, including reliance on a type of lab rat that is less impacted by Pfas's toxic effects than humans. They also note missing or limited toxicological data. Chemours references an occupational inhalation limit developed by the partially industry-funded science group Tera, which Earthjustice says failed to follow EPA best practices and omitted key data. The exposure level workers would face is probably unsafe, the comments claim.
Health and Climate Risks
Opteon 2P50 is likely more toxic and more of a climate risk than Chemours claims, public advocates warn. Pfas are a class of about 16,000 compounds dubbed 'forever chemicals' because they do not naturally break down and accumulate in the human body and environment. They are linked to cancer, liver disease, kidney issues, high cholesterol, birth defects and decreased immunity. The datacenter industry has claimed that the gas used in two-phase cooling systems turns into a compound called TFA, which is not considered a Pfas by the US EPA. However, recent research has found TFA more toxic than previously thought, and the European Chemical Agency this month classified it as hazardous, linking it to thyroid disruption, reduced sperm quality and liver toxicity.
'The datacenter industry knows it is under fire for its enormous use of water so they cast themselves as the good guys by using alternative cooling, but they’re not telling [the public] that they’re using hazardous chemicals,' said Lenny Siegel, director of the Chips Communities United non-profit. 'Some are toxic, some are greenhouse gases and some are both.'
Concerns Over Trump Executive Order
Opteon 2P50 is the first chemical for which industry has asked the Trump EPA to fast-track approval under an executive order calling for expedited review of datacenter chemicals. Earthjustice noted that the EPA must consider health risks as required by law despite the order. 'We’re worried that the EPA may interpret “priority review” as “priority approval”, and we need to remind them that the executive order has no bearing on assessing health risk,' said Adriana Antezana, a scientist with Earthjustice.
The environmental groups also allege that Chemours has a history of releasing dangerous levels of pollution into communities around its plants, and US drinking water is already widely contaminated with Pfas. Approval of the new compound could present an unreasonable risk to the public under toxic chemical laws because some already face high exposures.
Chemours Response and Potential Wider Use
In a statement, Chemours accused the environmental groups of making 'sweeping generalizations' about Pfas, each of which have slightly different chemistry. The company said the two-phase systems are a 'closed loop' with low emissions, and that the 'EPA’s new chemicals review is a rigorous evaluation process.' Chemours did not respond to the Guardian's request for comment.
If the EPA approves Opteon 2P50 for manufacture, it could more easily be approved for other uses in industry or consumer products such as refrigerators. Antezana said Earthjustice could potentially sue if the chemical is rammed through without following the law. 'We don’t want the government just to approve the chemicals because a company is saying it will help this industry, because that could go for any chemical,' she said.
