The Semiconductor Paradox

PFAS, shorthand for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are a family of more than 15,000 synthetic chemicals. Their defining feature is the carbon-fluorine bond, one of the strongest in chemistry, which makes them extraordinarily resistant to heat, corrosion, and chemical breakdown. In turn, those traits make them indispensable in semiconductor manufacturing.

As Andrew Chien, a University of Chicago computer scientist and former Intel research leader, recently told Politico: “They’re used in a sequential fashion in the processing of the chips. We can become more efficient about it, but it’s not obvious how we transition away from [PFAS].”

That reality is echoed by Cally Edgren, Vice President of Sustainability and Global Regulatory at Assent, an Ontario-based supply-chain and data platform. She notes: “When most people think about PFAS, they picture water resistance or non-stick coatings. But behind the scenes, ‘forever chemicals’ are foundational to advanced industrial processes — perhaps none more so than semiconductor manufacturing. Their unique chemical properties enable photolithography, plasma processing, wafer cleaning, and even the pristine cleanroom environments essential for chip fabrication. In these settings, PFAS aren’t just convenient—they’re indispensable.”

Translation: without PFAS, there are no semiconductors. And without semiconductors, there are no smartphones, laptops, televisions, ecommerce platforms, or even point-of-sale systems. The chip shortage of 2021, which left retailers scrambling to stock laptops, game consoles, and cars, showed just how vulnerable retail is to disruptions in semiconductor supply. Now, PFAS has become another fault line, raising the stakes even higher.

Why Electronics Retailers Can’t Ignore the PFAS Problem

What makes PFAS so useful in chips is also what makes them dangerous. PFAS compounds don’t naturally degrade, and as a result, they accumulate in water, soil, and bloodstreams, and have been linked to a long list of health issues, including cancers, thyroid disease, infertility, and developmental issues, to name just a few. Major PFAS production facilities in the U.S., Asia and Europe have already left contamination in their wake. Chemours’ Fayetteville Works plant in North Carolina has polluted ten counties with a PFAS called GenX, while its Parkersburg, West Virginia site has repeatedly exceeded wastewater limits, according to the EPA.

For retailers, the stakes aren’t theoretical anymore. PFAS has become a real supply-chain, compliance, and brand risk. UL Solutions, which advises global retailers on chemical safety, points out that rules and reporting requirements are multiplying across states, countries, and regions. At the same time, shoppers are waking up to the issue and increasingly prefer products marketed as PFAS-free. That creates ripple effects: supply chains strained by reformulation or sourcing changes, brands exposed to reputational damage if their products are tied to “forever chemicals,” and mounting costs for compliance, labeling, and even recalls.

In Europe, the issue has already reached a boiling point. It’s not just about regulation—it’s about politics and public pressure. In France, for example, hundreds of activists stormed a PFAS-producing facility near Lyon in March of 2024, staging what they called a “citizens’ inspection” and sparking national headlines about the health risks tied to local contamination. Across the EU, PFAS is no longer a niche concern. It’s a mainstream environmental crisis—and one that consumers, civil society, and retailers are watching closely.

The weight of that public scrutiny has also translated into historic legal accountability. In June 2025, an Italian court delivered a landmark ruling, sentencing eleven former executives — including board members linked to Mitsubishi and other parent companies—to a combined 141 years in prison, with individual terms of up to 17 years. Their crime: decades of mismanagement that left nearly 200 square kilometers of soil and drinking water contaminated with PFAS. It was the first time corporate managers in Europe were held criminally liable for PFAS pollution — a powerful signal that industrial negligence is no longer just a reputational risk, but a path to doing hard time.

In the U.S., the challenges are of an entirely different character. With federal momentum under the Trump Administration moving slowly and often inconsistently, state governments have become the frontline of PFAS regulation. This has produced a patchwork of requirements that vary widely across jurisdictions, forcing retailers and manufacturers to track shifting compliance obligations state by state.

But the biggest risks revolve around litigation. Over the past several years, PFAS lawsuits have led to some of the largest environmental settlements in U.S. history. In 2023, 3M agreed to pay up to $12.5 billion to settle claims related to PFAS contamination of public water systems. That same year, DuPont, Chemours, and Corteva reached a $1.19 billion settlement for similar claims. These cases are only the beginning: municipalities, states, and private plaintiffs continue to file actions against a wide array of companies—including retailers—alleging PFAS contamination or failure to disclose risks.

“For semiconductor companies, the litigation risks are acute, and they should all consider preemptive investment in advanced PFAS treatment infrastructure to demonstrate good faith and reduce damage exposure,” noted Chad Cummings, the CEO of Texas and Florida-based Cummings & Cummings Law, which advises manufacturing companies on mitigating their liability exposure.

For retailers, the message is stark: what begins in chemical plants and semiconductor fabs doesn’t stay there. It flows directly into the products on their shelves — and into the headlines that shape consumer trust. Companies like Target, Best Buy, and Walmart may not manufacture chips, but they market and sell the devices that depend on them. That makes them the public face of PFAS risk, whether through regulatory fines, lawsuits, or reputational damage. In an industry where consumer confidence drives sales, ignoring PFAS is no longer an option; managing it has become a core business imperative.

A Breakthrough That Changes the Equation

For years, the semiconductor–PFAS paradox seemed inescapable: the chemicals were indispensable, but using toxic chemicals with the potential to seep into the environment was almost inevitable.

Now that equation has begun to shift —not in Silicon Valley but in Decatur, Alabama, of all places. There, Daikin America — the U.S. arm of Daikin Industries, a Japanese multinational best known as the world’s largest air-conditioner manufacturer, but is also a global leader in the production of fluorochemicals — agreed to let a small Minneapolis startup try something new. Daikin is not a chipmaker, but it makes the critical PFAS chemicals that chipmakers depend on to make key electronic components. If PFAS can be destroyed at the source, in a plant like Daikin’s, then the manufacturers downstream can easily follow suit.

Enter Claros Technologies, a relatively unknown albeit well-funded environmental technology company that was spun out of the University of Minnesota. Earlier this year, Claros installed its UV-photochemical system at Daikin’s facility and ran it under industrial conditions. Over the course of the pilot, the system processed more than 50,000 gallons of contaminated wastewater and reported 99.99 percent destruction rates. Even more impressive than the percentage destruction was the scale: capable of hundreds of gallons a minute, not the dribble of a contained laboratory experiment.

Claros’ innovation lies in pairing UV with proprietary reagents — a formula that operates at low energy and low cost, while achieving levels of PFAS destruction that far outpace more exotic and expensive approaches like plasma or supercritical water oxidation. That combination — taking a familiar technology like UV and making it do something no one thought possible — is what is turning heads across the industry, prompting one major trade publication in the chemical industry to hail the Daikin trial as a “major breakthrough.

And the implications ripple far beyond Decatur. If chemical plants can destroy PFAS in the wastewater at the point of production, semiconductor fabs, the underlying technology supporting the trillion-dollar consumer-electronics market, can also eliminate PFAS from their production waste streams. At last, one might say, the semiconductor industry may be able to have its cake and eat it too, enabling manufacturers to keep using the PFAS that make modern chips possible, while shedding the risk profile that has made them a global liability.

The Global Arms Race for PFAS Solutions

Although Claros’ UV technology has pulled decisively ahead of its rivals, scores of companies are pursuing an array of promising approaches with different trade-offs in terms of throughput, efficacy, and cost —an arms race in pursuit of the “killer app” for PFAS destruction. The reality, however, is a bit more nuanced; there will not be a single solution for all PFAS destruction. Different settings require different tools: remediating PFAS in farmland soil is not the same as cleaning a contaminated reservoir, which is not the same as treating high-volume wastewater from chip fabs.

The global race to solve PFAS contamination is far from over. Different technologies will likely dominate in different contexts—plasma for certain industrial waste streams, enzymatic degradation for small-scale cleanup, and supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) for specialized niche applications. But for industrial and semiconductor wastewater, the stakes are immediate, and UV-based technology is showing what is possible.

“Semiconductors aren’t going PFAS-free anytime soon,” John Brockgreitens, Ph.D., Vice President of Product Development at Claros, told The Robin Report. “But that doesn’t mean PFAS pollution is inevitable. We’ve proven you can eliminate PFAS at the source, before they ever reach the environment. That’s not just a win for manufacturers — it’s a win for retailers, consumers, and communities that expect supply chains to be sustainable.”

What This All Means for Retail

For retailers, the implications are direct. Electronics sales depend entirely on the steady flow of semiconductors. A disruption in chipmaking — whether caused by regulation, litigation, or reputational fallout — becomes a disruption in retail sales. The 2021 shortage was a warning shot; PFAS represents a potentially longer-term challenge.

But destruction technologies like Claros give retailers a path forward. They provide supply-chain assurance, allowing retailers to say confidently that the products on their shelves are tied to responsible manufacturing. They offer regulatory readiness, helping retailers stay compliant as PFAS rules tighten globally. They protect brand equity by insulating companies from the fallout of PFAS-related headlines. And they strengthen consumer loyalty in an era where shoppers want safer, cleaner, more transparent supply chains.

Replacing PFAS in semiconductor production may take decades, if it can be done at all. In the meantime, the retail sector doesn’t have to stand still. By encouraging suppliers to adopt proven destruction methods, retailers can insulate themselves from regulatory shocks, protect their brands, and give customers the confidence that the products they buy aren’t contributing to PFAS pollution.

For retailers, the message is clear: PFAS may remain essential to semiconductor production, but they no longer have to be a liability. With new destruction technologies now proven at scale, the industry has a way to keep chips flowing, shelves stocked, and consumer trust intact.

Still, voices from inside the supply chain caution against assuming PFAS can be phased out overnight. Mike Bangasser, CEO of Best Technology speaks for many in the industry when he warns: “If PFAS were banned outright, wafer production would collapse. You’d cripple data centers, spike energy use, and stall technologies that underpin modern life — from smartphones to aerospace.” His point echoes a broader frustration: too often, non-scientific policymakers try to legislate away materials that scientists know remain essential, at least until real alternatives exist.

For years, the PFAS debate has been framed as a choice between economic growth and environmental safety. These new technologies suggest that, at least in this case, it doesn’t have to be either-or. By destroying PFAS at the point of production, manufacturers can continue to build the breakthrough chips that underpin the global economy without compounding the environmental damage that has come to define “forever chemicals.”

That, in turn, gives retailers something they have never had before: the ability to break the cycle of liability. But peace of mind only matters if it is backed up by action. The semiconductor industry must show its progress more clearly to the supply chain, and retailers must demand it, pushing suppliers to adopt destruction technologies, requiring transparency, and making PFAS risk management a core part of brand strategy. By doing so, retailers won’t just insulate themselves from regulatory shocks and reputational risk; they will set a new standard for responsible supply chains in the electronics industry. If they seize that role, they can transform PFAS from a looming liability into a competitive advantage. For once, the environment and the economy both stand to win — and the entire electronics ecosystem, from fabs to storefronts, will be stronger for it.