Essential Chemistries Drive Technology We Rely On

Chuck Chaitovitz
Vice President, Environmental Affairs and Sustainability, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Published

May 20, 2024

Fluorochemistries, including many PFAS chemistries, are safe and essential components in our daily lives. Due to their unmatched performance and reliability, fluorochemistries enable many consumer technologies we rely on every day, as well as emerging technologies we will rely on in the future.

Electronic Devices that Power our World: Semiconductor manufacturing simply would not exist without essential fluorochemistries to maximize yields, improve processes, and maintain consistency. The chip fabrication process requires a compound that can withstand high temperatures and prevent corrosive substances from contaminating the ultra-clean environment. Fluorochemistries fit the bill, enabling our cellphones, tablets, smart household devices, and the computers in cars and planes to meet our every need.
Components for a Digital World: Our telecommunications and 5G capabilities need fluorochemistries to enable the high-speed data transmission of our cell phones, computers, and tablets. Because of their ability to endure high temperatures and the harsh chemicals inside of these devices, fluorochemistries ensure that our technologies have safe, reliable data transferability and signal quality.
Backbone of Modern Communications: As modern technology continues to evolve and demand more energy consumption from data centers, fluorochemistries used in emerging technologies can help to reduce energy use, carbon emissions, and water consumption in data center cooling. Their low global warming potential (GWP) makes them uniquely suited to provide large-scale air cooling in data centers, ultimately serving as a sustainable tool to power the growing demands for data center efficiency and capacity.

Restricting access to fluorochemistries would drastically reduce the United States’ advantage in technological innovation. Amid national initiatives to bolster domestic chip production, create jobs, and support American innovation, safeguarding access to these essential chemistries is integral to maintaining our path of prosperity.

We’re spearheading Essential Chemistry for America, an initiative dedicated to protecting our access to fluorochemistries and working to raise awareness of their role in critical technologies and throughout U.S. economy. Learn more about our work here.