AI Data Centres Are Driving a Surge in Forever Chemical Production, Campaigners Warn

Key points

• A campaign group warns of a "tidal wave" of PFAS production driven by demand from AI data centres.
• A survey of the ten biggest PFAS manufacturers found most have active plans to increase output.
• PFAS chemicals have been linked to cancer and are called "forever chemicals" because they don't break down in the environment or the human body.
• The warning adds environmental pressure to an AI industry already scrutinised for its energy and water consumption.

The AI industry's hunger for computing power is now helping fuel a sharp rise in production of some of the most persistent toxic chemicals on earth.

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a large family of man-made chemicals used in everything from non-stick pans to semiconductor manufacturing) are increasingly in demand because data centres rely on them for cooling and insulation. Campaign groups, first reported by The Guardian, describe the coming increase as a "tidal wave."

The nickname "forever chemicals" isn't figurative. PFAS don't break down. They accumulate in soil and human tissue over decades, and regulators in the US and Europe have linked long-term exposure to several cancers, thyroid disease and immune system damage.

What did the survey actually find?

Most of the ten largest PFAS producers surveyed have plans to expand, not cut, production. Not one major manufacturer is pulling back in response to health concerns.

That finding matters because the AI build-out is enormous. Hundreds of billions of dollars are flowing into new data centres globally, and each facility requires materials that currently depend on PFAS chemistry.

Should ordinary people be concerned?

The immediate risk to any individual isn't a sudden event. PFAS exposure builds slowly, through contaminated water and food chains, and through environmental runoff from industrial sites. People near manufacturing plants carry the highest near-term risk.

What the survey signals is that production volumes could rise sharply before regulators catch up, opening more routes into water supplies. This is the chemical dimension of a story we've been tracking since July: our September coverage of communities pushing back against data centres focused on energy and land, and our reporting on what the UK government doesn't know about its largest data centres exposed how thin regulatory oversight already is. PFAS is harder to offset than electricity: you can't buy a certificate to undo a contaminated aquifer.

For now, practical steps are modest: check whether your local water supplier tests for PFAS and follow whatever guidance your water authority publishes. The bigger levers sit with regulators and with the AI companies choosing which cooling technologies they commission.

Common questions

What are PFAS and why does AI need them?

PFAS are a family of synthetic chemicals prized for resisting heat and electrical interference. Data centres use them in specialist cooling fluids and insulating materials that protect the chips powering AI systems.

Are there PFAS-free alternatives for data centres?

Researchers and some manufacturers are developing alternative cooling fluids, but they're not yet widely adopted at the scale modern data centres require. Regulatory pressure is the most likely driver of faster adoption.