Groups Urge EPA to Reject Chemours Datacenter PFAS
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- Chemours' Opteon 2P50 became the first chemical for which industry has requested fast-track EPA approval under Trump's executive order calling for expedited review of datacenter chemicals, according to Earthjustice comments.
- Earthjustice and 16 allied groups told the EPA that approving Opteon 2P50 would violate the law because the company's application relied on a rat strain less affected by PFAS toxicity and on a partially industry-funded science group, Tera, whose occupational exposure limits omitted key data.
- Two-phase datacenter cooling systems, marketed by developers including Google as a water-saving alternative, instead use PFAS "forever chemical" gas (f-gas) as a refrigerant, with emissions that environmental advocates say turn into the highly persistent compound TFA once released.
- Chemours defended the systems as a "closed loop" with low fugitive emissions and accused critics of making "sweeping generalizations," while Earthjustice scientist Adriana Antezana warned the EPA may interpret "priority review" as "priority approval."
- The European Chemical Agency classified TFA as a hazardous chemical this month, finding it probably disrupts thyroid function, reduces sperm quality, and is toxic to the liver, while US drinking water is already widely contaminated with PFAS.
- If the EPA approves Opteon 2P50 for manufacture, it could more easily win approval for other industrial or consumer-product uses such as refrigerators, and Earthjustice is prepared to sue if the agency approves the chemical without following statutory health-risk review.
Why it matters: If approved, Opteon 2P50 would not only embed PFAS gas in the rapidly expanding datacenter cooling market but also lower the bar for broader industrial and consumer-product approvals — expanding PFAS exposure in a country where drinking water is already widely contaminated. The fight also becomes the first live test of whether Trump's executive order on expedited chemical review can override the EPA's statutory duty to assess health risks.
