Environment & Climate
Environmental groups sue EPA over fast-track approval of semiconductor chemicals
A lawsuit alleges the Trump administration approved two highly toxic photoacid generator chemicals for data center and chip production despite acknowledging severe health risks and a lack of hazard data.
The short version
- The nonprofit Earthjustice has filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its approval of two imported photoacid generator chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing and data centers.
- Internal EPA consent orders acknowledge the compounds could present "unreasonable risk" and severe health hazards, including sudden death, cancer, and reproductive harm, but the agency approved them with minimal restrictions.
- The lawsuit alleges the EPA violated the Toxic Substances Control Act by failing to protect the public from chemicals for which it admitted it lacked sufficient data to quantify hazard levels.
Key facts
- Earthjustice filed a lawsuit against the EPA challenging the approval of two photoacid generator compounds for import and immediate use across the United States.[The Guardian]
- The approved chemicals appear to be PFAS "forever chemicals," which do not break down naturally and accumulate in the body and environment.[The Guardian]
- In official consent orders, the EPA identified potential risks to workers and the public including acute lethality, cancer, genetic toxicity, eye corrosion, and reproductive harm.[The Guardian]
- The EPA stated in its orders that it lacked sufficient information to quantify the exact hazard levels, determine the threshold for acute lethality, or estimate the precise environmental hazard of the compounds.[The Guardian]
- The Toxic Substances Control Act requires the EPA to prohibit or limit chemicals that present an "unreasonable risk" to the extent necessary to protect against those dangers.[The Guardian]
- The semiconductor industry has argued that photoacid generators are essential for photolithography and that finding safer alternatives is currently impossible for certain manufacturing processes.[The Guardian]
What remains uncertain
- Redactions in the EPA consent orders leave it unclear if the chemicals were approved under a late 2025 executive order issued by Donald Trump to fast-track data center chemicals, and they conceal the name of the producing company.[The Guardian]
- It is unclear how the chemicals will be disposed of; while the EPA instructs that they be incinerated, the process does not fully destroy many chemicals and may create unknown health risks for surrounding communities.[The Guardian]