Chemours and Data Centers: A Love Story

Coauthored with Hope Taylor, former Executive Director of Clean Water for North Carolina

Chemours, data centers, and PFAS 

Chemours, a spin-off of DuPont, is a major manufacturer of PFAS (aka toxic “forever chemicals”), and it is betting big on data centers. PFAS can be used in data centers for cooling, fire suppression, and in the production of semiconductors and other electronic components. Unfortunately, the entire life cycle of the PFAS used in data centers puts human and environmental health at risk, from the manufacturing of PFAS to their use on-site at data centers and their eventual disposal.  

Chemours is a leading manufacturer of PFAS and the sole manufacturer of Opteon, a PFAS-based refrigerant used for data center cooling. This multibillion-dollar company is positioning itself as a key collaborator for data centers, and recently, the company has seen tremendous growth in the “product groups” responsible for manufacturing forever chemicals for use at data centers. Yet both Chemours and DuPont have a dirty past when it comes to PFAS manufacture: The companies knew about and hid these chemicals’ harms from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and states for decades, poisoning drinking water, the air, the soil, and entire ecosystems all the while. This history necessitates scrutiny for any new chemicals manufactured by the company, including those used in data centers.  

Chemours’s forever chemicals are used throughout data centers

Chemours lists the following data center uses for its products: 

• Refrigerants like Opteon and Freon 
• Insulation and coatings to control humidity and temperature 
• Teflon coatings for cable insulation and other components 
• Krytox for pumps and robotics 
• Viton for sealing 
• Teflon for fluid handling 
• Teflon for filtration 

Data centers require cooling at the actual site for two main components: the server racks themselves and on-site electricity generation.¹ Increasingly, data centers generate electricity on-site, so it is common to have both cooling demands at the same site. These cooling requirements have negative effects on both water quality and quantity. Data center cooling systems can consume vast quantities of water and pollute large quantities of water, depending on the type of cooling system used. For example, evaporative cooling consumes large quantities of water while some immersion cooling techniques rely on harmful chemicals such as PFAS. 

PFAS have serious health effects 

PFAS have been linked to a variety of serious health effects, including kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, and decreased fertility. These toxic chemicals, of which there are thousands, can be harmful at extremely low doses (in the parts per trillion). PFAS are called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily and can accumulate in the food that we eat and in our own bodies. In addition to being highly persistent, PFAS are highly mobile and spread quickly throughout the environment.  

Chemours recently submitted a premanufacture notice to the EPA for Opteon 2P50. Opteon 2P50 belongs to a subcategory of chemicals known as hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), which are fluorinated gases that can degrade into other toxic shorter-chain PFAS that persist in the environment. While there is limited information on Opteon 2P50, available public information finds that it is hazardous to aquatic life and not readily biodegradable. In the atmosphere, Opteon 2P50 can result in two degradation products, trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) and perfluoropropanoic acid (PFPrA). TFA has been recognized by the European Chemicals Agency’s Risk Assessment Committee as toxic to reproduction, and the EPA established a lifetime health advisory for PFPrA based on liver toxicity. TFA and PFPrA are both ultrashort-chain PFAS, which are known for their high mobility in water and difficulty to be contained and remediated, resulting in their ubiquitous presence, widespread contamination, and substantial risks to human health and the environment. 

Chemours is profiting from AI and data centers 

Supplying forever chemicals, such as the ones noted above, for use in data centers is a large and rapidly expanding market for Chemours.  

• The third quarter of 2025 saw year-over-year growth of 80 percent in Opteon refrigerants, while the second quarter of 2025 saw year-over-year growth of 65 percent in Opteon refrigerants. 
• In the last quarter of 2025, Chemours’s Thermal & Specialized Solutions product group reported a “record” quarter, due in large part to its manufacturing of products that release forever chemicals for use in data centers; this time, it was a record fourth quarter, “…with double-digit, year-over-year growth of 37 percent in Opteon refrigerants.” 
• In the first quarter of 2026, Chemours stated that its Thermal & Specialized Solutions product group had a “record first quarter…with continued double-digit, year-over-year sales growth in Opteon,” which was also responsible for over half of the net sales in the product group. In the same quarter, Chemours stated that the company is “[r]ecognized as a key industry collaborator in…AI infrastructure.” Overall, Chemours reported an increase of net sales to $1.4 billion.  
• In the second quarter of 2026, the most recent quarter that Chemours has reported earnings, the company stated that it anticipates “robust growth in years ahead” for data center, semiconductor, and advanced electronics, and it plans to spend $20–$25 million annually on related research and development. 

Chemours has also sought out and received official approval (known as a “qualification”) for Opteon’s use with two specific data center server technologies. 

PFAS and data centers: A not-so-closed loop

The reality is that, when it comes to air, water, and soil pollution, PFAS manufacture and disposal is almost completely unregulated in the United States. No states have limits on the release of all PFAS into drinking water sources (also known as class-based PFAS limits). Some states have water-related limits for a few of the 20,000-plus PFAS in existence. This means that there are many potential pollution pathways, via water and air, starting from the release of PFAS during the manufacturing process through to their disposal once their useful life is over at the data center. 

PFAS are released into the air and water during the manufacturing process. These releases in turn pollute nearby soil as well. Forever chemicals can also be released on-site via discharges and foreseeable accidental releases. Data centers are susceptible to arc flashes—fiery, intensely hot explosions caused by short circuits, resulting in the vaporization and release of cooling fluids. Chemours itself has acknowledged the potential release of cooling fluids in two-phase immersion cooling systems; the company estimates an evaporative loss rate of 0.7 percent per year.  

As for release during disposal, according to current EPA guidance, there are three commercially available pathways for PFAS destruction/disposal: thermal treatment, hazardous waste landfilling, or deep-well injection. All are problematic. Thermal treatment often breaks forever chemicals down into smaller, but still toxic, PFAS. Hazardous waste landfills create both airborne emissions of volatile chemicals and toxic leachate that can go on to contaminate water. Finally, deep-well injection of forever chemicals can contaminate groundwater when PFAS migrate from the injection site. 

Bottom line: 

Business is booming for Chemours because of the data center boom. Chemours views data centers as a “key…market” for the products it manufactures: forever chemicals that can eventually end up in our water, air, soil, and/or food. When it comes to water, data centers present their neighbors with the dilemma of whether they want to be left with no water, polluted water, or a combination of the two.