Groups sue Trump’s EPA over fast-track approval of toxic datacenter chemicals
Exposure to two compounds approved can result in ‘sudden death’ and range of other serious health risks, lawsuit warns The Trump administration has approved two new datacenter chemicals to which exposure can result in “sudden death” and a range of other serious health risks, like cancer, eye corrosion, neurological damage and reproductive harm, a new lawsuit warns. The two compounds approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for import and immediate use in facilities across the US are photoacid generators that also appear to be Pfas “forever chemicals”, though it is unclear because much of the EPA documents are redacted. Some Pfas are commonly used in the production of semiconductors. The EPA acknowledged in its approvals that it does not know the level at which the chemicals are “acutely lethal” or cause other serious health damage, but the agency still approved them anyway, said Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, an attorney with the Earthjustice nonprofit, which filed the suit. That violates the law, Kalmuss-Katz said.
The text below was supplied by the Scoop Newsroom app. Third-party reporting is attributed in the source panel.
He added that environmental groups were not calling for the elimination of domestic chip production, but “we need to do it in a way that isn’t exposing workers and communities to these unstudied risks.” Groups sue Trump’s EPA over fast-track approval of toxic datacenter chemicals. Most of the chemicals used in that process do not remain on the chip, but are instead discharged in wastewater or otherwise disposed of.
