Consortium Publishes Survey Results of PFAS Discharges to Wastewater
Friday, Jan 17, 2025, 9:30am
by David Isaacs, Vice President, Government Affairs
The Semiconductor PFAS Consortium, a group of companies organized under the auspices of the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) to address technical matters associated with the industry’s use of PFAS,[1] today published the results of a survey of PFAS discharges from semiconductor fabs to wastewater. The publication of these data are intended to advance transparency and understanding of the industry’s uses and releases of PFAS, while also guiding future research efforts on improved detection methods and treatment technologies and assisting in future initiatives to establish appropriate discharge limits for wastewater releases from fabs.
The Consortium data was submitted voluntarily from 26 participating facilities operated by 7 Consortium member companies across locations in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. The new data, collected using standard U.S. EPA and ASTM methods for “target” PFAS, are generally consistent with prior published papers on PFAS in semiconductor fab wastewater discharges in showing substantial variation of PFAS releases by fabs around the world.[2] The data show wastewater releases from fabs differ in terms of both specific PFAS and concentration levels in the wastestream. According to the paper, discharges of targeted PFAS from the participating facilities range from 0.002 grams per day to 13 grams per day, with an average of approximately 4 grams of targeted PFAS per day per facility, equating to approximately 3.2 pounds per year per facility. The findings of the survey are summarized in the following table.
The paper attributes the variations in releases among the facilities to several factors, including, but not limited to: (1) the size and complexity of products manufactured at a fab; (2) differences in process chemistries; (3) manufacturing technologies and equipment used in a fab; (4) in-plant strategies used to collect and segregate PFAS-containing wastewater; (5) effluent treatment processes; and (6) total fab effluent volume.
Current target PFAS analytical methods offered by commercial laboratories are incapable of characterizing certain other PFAS species potentially present in facility wastewater effluent. Additional research will be needed to develop a more complete understanding of semiconductor PFAS releases, the factors contributing to variations in the release of PFAS from semiconductor fabs, and potential measures to reduce or eliminate these discharges.
The Consortium paper contributes to the understanding of semiconductor fab PFAS discharges and current detection, control, and reduction capabilities. Among other priorities, industry, government, and academia should collaborate on research to advance the development of analytical methods to speciate and quantify PFAS at low concentrations in semiconductor wastewater and air and in the work environment, as well as to develop standardized protocols and reference standards and materials. For critical uses with no known alternatives, research is required to optimize processes to reduce consumption, facilitate recycling, and improve capture and abatement technologies. Research on alternative chemistries should identify the process performance and EHS characteristics to ensure substitutes are suitable. Ongoing technical projects by the Consortium, in addition to initiatives at the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) and federal agencies,[3] seek to innovate and expand our understanding in this area. Meaningful, scientifically proven data is needed to inform appropriate policy measures, such as discharge limits, and we encourage further industry-government-academia collaboration on this effort.
As documented in 10 technical papers previously published by the Consortium, the semiconductor industry relies on PFAS in numerous essential manufacturing steps, in addition to PFAS present in fab infrastructure and equipment.[4] PFAS substances are utilized because they possess specific properties that provide unique functionality in the complex process of semiconductor fabrication. There are no known substitutes for most of these applications, and the process of researching, identifying, and qualifying appropriate substitutes will likely take between 5-25 years, and may not be feasible in many applications. While the semiconductor industry has successfully phased out certain types of PFAS,[5] given the range of currently unavoidable uses and the types of PFAS used throughout the semiconductor fabrication process, more effective analytical detection methods and treatment technologies will need to be developed to detect and control releases to wastewater during the period when PFAS alternatives are being investigated.
The semiconductor industry uses and releases a small fraction of the overall PFAS in the environment. Available use data in Europe indicates that the electronics sector as a whole comprises around 1% of the overall PFAS market, and semiconductor uses would comprise a fraction of this amount.[6] The data published today should be considered in the context of the full range of industrial uses and discharges of PFAS throughout the U.S. and around the world.
Despite the relatively small contribution of the semiconductor sector, the industry seeks to play a leadership role in expanding scientific understanding of PFAS. A holistic approach to addressing PFAS throughout the economy will require concerted action by other industry sectors in coordination with government, academia, and other stakeholders.
The Semiconductor PFAS Consortium and SIA are committed to continuing to play a constructive role in achieving these goals in a manner that enables continued innovation in semiconductor technology and looks forward to collaboration with stakeholders in industry, government, and academia. The Consortium is undertaking a number of technical projects to advance these goals, and we will continue to make the results of this ongoing work publicly available on the Consortium website.
[2] Chen, YJ, RD Wang, YL Shih, HY Chin, and AY Lin. 2024. “Emerging Perfluorobutane Sulfonamido Derivatives as a New Trend of Surfactants Used in the Semiconductor Industry.” Environmental science & technology.
Jacob, P., K.A. Barzen-Hanson, and D.E. Helbling. 2021. “Target and nontarget analysis of per-and polyfluoralkyl substances in wastewater from electronics fabrication facilities.” Environmental Science & Technology 2346-2356.
Jacob, Paige, and Damian E. Helbling. 2023. “Rapid and Simultaneous Quantification of Short- and Ultrashort-Chain Perfluoroalkyl Substances in Water and Wastewater.” ACS ES&T Water 118-128.
[6] Nature, “Can the World Leave ‘Forever Chemicals’ Behind?” Vol 620 (3 August 2023), https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02444-5. This article calculates the amount of PFAS used in different industry sectors in Europe and concludes that the electronics sector as a whole uses a very small amount of overall PFAS, and the semiconductor industry is just a portion of this small amount.
