When political leaders gain favorable headlines by suggesting a total ban on PFAS, they neglect to mention that life would change dramatically for every North Carolinian. This chemical family is essential to mobility, communication, medical treatment, and more.
Our state and nation cannot meet its electrification, fuel efficiency, and clean energy standards, as well as other sustainability goals, without the essential chemistry of PFAS.
Fluorochemistries used across U.S. industries contribute more than $1 trillion annually toward U.S. GDP and result in over six million jobs.
The U.S. Chamber shared, “Without essential chemistries, our economy would grind to a halt. It is critically important to create the right policy and regulatory environment that will enable our economy to grow by ensuring access to essential chemistries vital to our everyday life.” We could not agree more.
The following products and industries – and more importantly, the people who rely on them – depend on PFAS, which do not pose a significant risk to human health or the environment when used for their intended purposes. Special thanks to the U.S. Chamber for developing this list.
Air Travel
Fluorochemistries enable safer, faster, cleaner, and more affordable air travel for American consumers. Providing flame resistance and durability, they make planes less prone to corrosion and improve in-flight data transmission — lowering maintenance costs and improving reliability of commercial aircraft. Further, by reducing weight and lowering exhaust emissions, including both carbon and NOx gasses, fluorochemistries improve aircraft engine performance and enable enhanced fuel efficiency, delivering peace of mind and savings to American consumers.
Automotive
As U.S. automakers continue to lead the charge in the electric vehicle transition, fluorochemistries are being used to increase car performance, boosting driver comfort and safety, and driving long-term sustainability within the auto industry. They are used in energy storage systems, engine efficiency, and emissions control, enabling vehicles to meet modern safety and fuel efficiency standards. Moreover, they lower the environmental impact potential of air conditioning systems in cars.
Semiconductors
Semiconductors are essential components of the electronic devices that power our world. From consumer handheld electronics to smart household appliances to medical imaging and drug delivery systems and military weapons, communications, and satellite systems, we rely on semiconductors. Fluorochemistries are required technologies for the chip fabrication process. Semiconductor manufacturing would simply not exist without them. Fluorochemistries enable semiconductor manufacturers to maximize chip yields, improve processes, and maintain consistency in micro-designs.
Data Centers
Data centers, the backbone of modern communications, require huge amounts of energy and cooling, challenges that fluorochemistries are uniquely suited to address. By providing large-scale air cooling for data center installations, low global warming potential fluorochemistries play a critical role in powering the ongoing digital transformation and supporting next-generation computing applications. Fluorochemistries can reduce data center cooling energy consumption by more than 90% and nearly eliminate water use — offering energy-efficient cooling and reductions in operating costs. They can also enable up to a 60% reduction in physical data center footprints when compared to traditional air-cooling technology.
Defense Equipment and Systems
Fluorochemistries are utilized across our defense equipment and systems to provide our military with the best available technologies to protect American interests at home and abroad. From military aircraft to weapons systems to satellite and communications systems and gear that protects our servicemen and women, fluorochemistries are trusted because they are durable, efficient, versatile, reliable, and offer unmatched performance when it really matters. They are essential components across almost all major weapons and communications systems, including but not limited to fixed-wing aircraft, rotary-wing aircraft, surface ships, submarines, missiles, radar systems, battle tanks, and assault vehicles.
Energy Transition
From solar panels and wind turbines to hydrogen production and rechargeable fuel cell batteries, fluorochemistries increase durability, lower maintenance costs, and increase efficiency across renewable energy applications. Offering improved functionality and design flexibility, they facilitate sustainable and renewable energy installations in greater numbers and locations across the country. By increasing the lifetime of key component parts and technologies, fluorochemistries work to ensure that U.S. clean energy equipment is built to last.
Health Care
Fluorochemistries are essential components of our health care systems, providing medical practitioners with the equipment they need to provide patients with top-of-the-line care. From guide wires, filters, pumps, ventilators, implants, and personal protective equipment, fluorochemistries make these devices more durable and effective, reducing the risk of equipment failures, infections, and unnecessary medical procedures. They also allow vaccines and pharmaceuticals to reach Americans across the country. They are essential to the transport and stationary refrigeration systems that enable the distribution of pharmaceuticals and vaccines, including in areas where traditional cooling infrastructure does not exist.