In the News
The Dark Side of the Chip
Semiconductor production is often marketed as “clean” manufacturing because fabs (short for fabrication plants) are supposed to be dust-free and workers wear white suits. But behind the sterile image is a heavy toxic load. Fabs use thousands of chemicals — photoresists, solvents, acids, etchants, and fluorinated gases — many of them carcinogens or reproductive toxins. Most OSHA exposure limits date back to the 1960s and remain far higher than what biomedical research considers safe. In practice, protective gear and training are uneven, and workers are often exposed to multiple hazardous substances at once.
September 30, 2025
More In the News
July 17, 2026
Micron’s wastewater poses a real risk to our environment (Guest Opinion by Sustain CNY)
As residents, we are very concerned about both the cost and the environmental stakes: Will Micron, the plant’s sole user, cover the full cost, or will some fall on taxpayers? Will the county, and ultimately the taxpayers, be liable for contaminants which pass through the treatment plant and ultimately end up in Lake Ontario? And will the plant be redesigned so it does not release hazardous chemicals — including PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals — into our waterways?
May 5, 2026
Data Centers Have a PFAS Problem - Advocates raise alarm over Pfas pollution from datacenters amid AI boom
“There are over a thousand PFAS applications in the semiconductor supply chain,” says Judith Barish, coalition director of CHIPS Communities United, an NGO arguing for a more responsible semiconductor industry. “They use a lot of PFAS, and there are also few short-term alternatives for it. The US chemical industry is even citing semiconductor production as a reason not to regulate PFAS.”
November 10, 2025
The Ecological Cost of AI Is Much Higher Than You Think
As the semiconductor industry expands at a breakneck pace in Asia and the United States, it has left behind a long history of extraction and ecological degradation, with no plan to stop the destruction. To the contrary, tech companies have abandoned their sustainability targets in the race to build out the vast, energy-ravenous, carbon-spewing data centers.