The same label covers the chemicals behind contaminated drinking water and the engineered fluids that cool AI hardware. Learn what separates them, what concerns apply to each, and how the cooling industry manages its fluids.
Written for operators, engineers, buyers and policymakers. No chemistry degree required.
Companies that make and sell fluorinated cooling fluids fund this cooperative, so we have a commercial interest in how these fluids are regulated. That's exactly why every claim here links to a primary source you can check yourself.
Modern PFAS definitions look at chemical structure. Under the OECD's 2021 definition, a molecule with even one fully fluorinated carbon counts. That sweeps in persistent surfactants like PFOS and PFOA, and also refrigerants, fire suppressants, medical inhaler propellants and cooling fluids.
It's a sensible way to track a chemical family. On its own, though, it tells you nothing about how a specific molecule moves through water, air or the body.
Each family has real concerns. They just aren't the same concerns, so they call for different controls.
Summary only. Individual products vary, so check each manufacturer's SDS and technical data. [Link each card to peer-reviewed sources before launch.]
In two-phase immersion cooling, servers sit in a fluid that boils right at the chip. The vapor rises, condenses on a cooling coil and drips back into the bath. Boiling absorbs a lot of heat, which is why the approach suits very dense hardware.
The fluid isn't used up or spread around like foam or a coating. The realistic way it escapes is as vapor, and that's an engineering problem with engineering answers.
Fair to say: single-phase and direct-to-chip cooling are good options for many sites. Two-phase earns its place where heat density is highest.
[Confirm final wording and how commitments are verified with members before launch.]
An honest conversation starts with the concerns that are well founded.
Including our members. A supplier who can't answer these clearly is telling you something. Print this list or take it to your next vendor meeting.
Download the checklistA plain-language reference for operators, engineers and buyers.
Open to any maker of two-phase cooling fluids that signs the stewardship commitments. No single member controls the content.