As India Builds Semiconductor Fabs, ‘Forever Chemicals’ Demand A Rulebook

PFAS do not break down easily in or out of the body, earning them the nickname “forever chemicals.”

These compounds turn up in everything — from firefighting foam to yoga pants. Now, they also underpin India’s semiconductor ambitions, from the non-reactive tubing and seals that move corrosive gases in fabs to the fluorinated surfactants that make photolithography (the printing of microscopic circuits) possible.

A report by SEMI, the global semiconductor association, acknowledges that PFAS are pervasive in the semiconductor industry supply chain. They enable nearly every aspect of semiconductor manufacturing. 

India's Semiconductor Push

New fabrication plants are planned in Gujarat and elsewhere under the India Semiconductor Mission, but no regulations exist, or are planned, in terms of using these chemicals. These facilities will rely heavily on PFAS compounds such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) for cleanroom coatings, fluid handling, and etching. Global PTFE demand is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 7.2%, from 6.55 kt (kilotonnes) in 2022 to 10.65 kt by 2029.

A senior chemical industry source told The Secretariat that “PFAS are present in almost every stage of chip production. Eliminating them entirely today would be practically impossible.” The source, involved in government consultations, added that while Indian regulators focus on food-contact plastics, “industrial uses like semiconductors remain outside any current consultations.”

International Regulations

Globally, regulators are moving faster. The EU has proposed a sweeping PFAS restriction under REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), while the US Environmental Protection Agency has set national drinking-water limits for six PFAS compounds. France’s ban on "forever chemicals" came into force early this year, although it is only for textiles and cosmetics.

While the world knows that this class of chemicals can cause cancer, kidney disease, and a host of other detriments to the human body and the environment, regulations are still sparse. 

Environmental bodies worldwide are also calling for an end to exemptions for semiconductor manufacturing. 

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (to which India is a party) already lists PFOS, PFOA, and PFHxS for global phase-out. Yet, India’s own National Implementation Plan under the Convention has yet to comprehensively address PFOS and related substances.

There are no national standards for PFAS in effluent, soil, or air, and no obligation for companies to report or monitor their use. 

A Persistent Pollutant

The very properties that make PFAS valuable (chemical stability and water repellence) also make them environmentally indestructible. Their strong carbon-fluorine bonds lead to very slow degradation, causing them to accumulate in soil, water, and living organisms.

International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) is a global network of public interest organisations improving chemical policies to ensure that hazardous substances are no longer produced, used, or disposed of in ways that harm human health and the environment. According to their latest India PFAS Situation Report, groundwater, drinking water, and rivers were found to have these chemicals at higher than the health advisory limit. Even breast milk was contaminated with PFAS. 

There isn’t a lot of research in India, but wherever it is done, damning evidence is recorded: from the Sundarbans to the Ganges River; from pigs in open waste dumps to the air pollution in India. PFAS don’t spare anyone and don’t go away. 

“So far, India’s PFAS footprint comes mostly from textiles, packaging, and consumer goods, but that will change as chip fabrication plants start cropping up,” an IIT professor told The Secretariat. 

Regulation Report Card

In India, the only visible movement on PFAS regulation has been a draft Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) proposal to restrict them in food packaging. This was in October last year. That leaves a major gap for industrial chemicals, which are regulated through fragmented laws overseen by different ministries.

“Banning PFAS without identifying safe substitutes could cripple emerging sectors,” said the industry source, but conceded that “ignoring them will cause cumulative pollution that lasts for generations.”

An IIT Madras strategy report to the Environment Ministry in 2022 called for high-quality toxicological studies in Indian populations and the creation of a national PFAS inventory. It called for monitoring at “sites that use PFAS-containing products” — a list that will soon include chip-fabrication zones.

PFAS Policy Vacuum

If India’s semiconductor push proceeds without such safeguards, the country risks repeating a pattern seen in other industries: rapid industrialisation followed by costly clean-ups. Once released, these compounds travel through air and water and persist indefinitely. For a nation seeking to be a semiconductor hub, the challenge is to maintain competitiveness while building environmental governance that matches global best practice.

The SEMI association pointed out that unfortunately "PFAS regulations do not share a common definition" nor do any internationally recognised test methods exist for broad-spectrum PFAS that can determine concentration of the chemicals in any particular component used to make semiconductors. In other words, this is not a battle India will be fighting alone. 

It is recommended that fabs worldwide gather information on PFAS use from their supply chain and develop technologies to capture and treat them at the point of emission.

The “forever chemicals” in India’s cleanrooms could otherwise leave a legacy that outlasts every microchip they help produce.