The Trump administration approved two new datacenter chemicals that exposure to which can cause “sudden death” and a range of serious health issues including cancer, eye corrosion, neurological damage, and reproductive harm, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, August 26th, 2026.

These compounds, photoacid generators approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for immediate use across US facilities, appear to be per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (Pfas), commonly known as “forever chemicals” due to their persistence in the environment and human body. However, much of the EPA’s documentation on these chemicals remains redacted, leaving uncertainty about their full nature.

Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, an attorney with the Earthjustice nonprofit that filed the suit, stated that the EPA acknowledged it does not know the levels at which these chemicals become acutely lethal or cause serious health damage but approved them regardless. He criticized the EPA’s minimal and non-protective restrictions, calling the approval process a failure to protect the public from unreasonable risk.

Under the Toxic Substances Control Act, if a substance poses an unreasonable risk, the EPA is required to limit or prohibit its manufacture, use, or disposal. The lawsuit argues that the EPA’s failure to take adequate protective steps is highly unusual given the severity of the chemicals’ harms and the lack of data.

The EPA also noted that the chemicals are likely to present an unreasonable risk to the environment and wildlife but admitted it lacked sufficient information to estimate the environmental hazard.

Lenny Siegel, executive director of the Center of Public Environmental Oversight, which advocates for stronger chemical regulations in the semiconductor industry, pointed out that despite the toxicity and persistence of these photoacid generators, there are likely no requirements for semiconductor plants in the US to limit their discharges.

Pfas are a class of at least 16,000 compounds known for their environmental persistence and accumulation in living organisms.

Sources