Two new chemicals were approved by the EPA for immediate use in semiconductor plants across the US. The EPA’s own review identified cancer, neurological damage, reproductive harm, eye corrosion and sudden death as potential effects. It also admitted it doesn’t know the level at which these become lethal. It said it lacked the information to work that out. They approved them anyway. You can’t look them up either. The identities are redacted as confidential business information. They’re known publicly only as P-26-0029 and P-26-0045. Both appear to be PFAS, the forever chemicals that don’t break down and stay in your body for decades. Though even that isn’t confirmed, because the documents are redacted. CHIPS Communities United and the Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice, filed suit in the Ninth Circuit on August 14 alleging violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act. From their attorney: the EPA is sending these into communities and leaving the public to discover the effects one doctor’s visit at a time. This traces back to an executive order fast-tracking chemical approvals for data centers. That’s the part worth sitting with. The AI buildout everyone is investing in has a physical footprint, and somebody lives next to it.