The semiconductor and electronics manufacturing industry is among the largest industrial users of PFAS — and among the most water-intensive industries in the world. The intersection of these two facts creates significant PFAS water contamination challenges that have affected communities near fabrication plants (fabs), manufacturing campuses, and semiconductor supply chain facilities around the world. Understanding this sector’s PFAS use and its water implications is essential for regulators, affected communities, and the industry itself.
Why Semiconductors Require PFAS
PFAS play irreplaceable roles in multiple semiconductor manufacturing process steps:
Photolithography: Photoresist materials — the light-sensitive coatings used to define circuit patterns — use fluorinated compounds to control spreading, adhesion, and development characteristics. The precision required in modern lithography (features measured in nanometers) demands the exceptional uniformity that fluorinated photoresists provide.
Plasma etching: Reactive ion etching, which creates the three-dimensional circuit structures in chips, uses fluorine-containing gases (CF₄, C₄F₈, SF₆) that are PFAS precursors. These gases are consumed in the process but produce fluorinated byproducts in exhaust streams.
Chemical mechanical planarization (CMP): Slurries used to polish and flatten chip surfaces use fluorinated surfactants to control particle dispersion and surface chemistry.
Anti-reflective coatings and surface treatments: Multiple PFAS-based specialty chemicals provide precise optical and surface chemistry control throughout the manufacturing process.
Equipment cleaning and contamination control: Fluorinated cleaning agents, fluoropolymer-lined equipment, and PFAS-containing cleaning formulations are used throughout facilities.
Ultrapure Water Demands and PFAS Rejection
Semiconductor manufacturing requires ultrapure water (UPW) of extraordinary purity — resistivity of 18.2 MΩ·cm, total organic carbon below 1 ppb, and particle and ion concentrations in the parts-per-trillion range. The water treatment systems that produce UPW for semiconductor fabs are the most sophisticated in any industry, incorporating multiple stages of reverse osmosis, electrodeionization, UV oxidation, and ultrafiltration.
This means that PFAS in fab source water are rejected at very high levels by the UPW treatment train — PFAS do not reach the process water in appreciable quantities. However, the large volumes of reject water (RO concentrate), cleaning wastewater, and process chemical waste streams generated by fabs do contain elevated PFAS that must be discharged or treated.
Community Contamination from Semiconductor Facilities
Several communities near semiconductor manufacturing facilities have documented PFAS groundwater and drinking water contamination:
Sites in Silicon Valley, California were among the first identified Superfund contamination sites in the United States (Lorentz Barrel & Drum, Fairchild Semiconductor), with contamination including PFAS precursors and degradation products.
Semiconductor fabs in Arizona, New Mexico, and internationally in Taiwan, South Korea, and Germany have been associated with groundwater PFAS monitoring concerns in surrounding communities.
Industry Response and Future Directions
The semiconductor industry faces a fundamental tension: PFAS are essential for current manufacturing processes, yet they create environmental liability and regulatory risk. Industry consortia are investing in PFAS substitution research, though the precision requirements of leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing make substitution technically challenging.
For wastewater management, leading manufacturers are implementing ZLD (zero liquid discharge) systems for PFAS-rich waste streams, electrochemical destruction of PFAS in process wastewater, and advanced ion exchange treatment for PFAS in facility effluent.
Implications for Affected Communities
For communities near semiconductor facilities with documented PFAS water contamination, point-of-use reverse osmosis filtration provides immediate protection while source remediation proceeds. The economic strength of the semiconductor industry means these companies typically have resources to fund community water treatment or alternative water supply as part of site remediation — a resource that affected community members should actively pursue through engagement with facility operators and state environmental agencies.