In August 2024, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report entitled Essential Chemistries: Providing Benefits Across the U.S. Economy that “examines the dependence of seven critical U.S. sectors, including aerospace manufacturing, data centers, defense equipment and systems, energy transition, health care, mobility, and semiconductors on essential fluorochemistries,” including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Third-party experts in environmental and economic policy engaged by the Chamber evaluated the economic and fiscal impacts of specific sectors reliant on essential fluorochemistries across the U.S. economy. The report primarily addresses the key uses of fluoropolymers, fluorinated gases (f-gases), and other fluorinated substances, such as heat transfer fluids. According to the Chamber, the top report findings include:
- Today’s fluorochemistries, including many PFAS, possess a unique combination of properties to repel water, withstand heat, and many other critical properties that make them durable, efficient, versatile, reliable, and often irreplaceable across critical sectors.
- Fluorochemistries are essential to American innovation. They support critical manufacturing sectors, provide well-paying jobs, and enhance national security.
- More than six million Americans work in sectors dependent on fluorochemistries, providing over $2.4 trillion in output and nearly $1 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP).
- These essential chemistries are produced and used in safe and effective ways that minimize risk to health and the environment.
- Estimates are that the transition to potential replacements could take decades.
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