SEKISUI CHEMICAL Achieves Progress in Creating PFAS-Free Pipes for Ultrapure Process Applications in the Manufacturing of Advanced Semiconductors

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 31, 2025--

SEKISUI CHEMICAL CO., LTD. (TOKYO: 4204) (President: Keita Kato; hereinafter “SEKISUI CHEMICAL”) announced that, in response to the global trend of tighter regulations regarding perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and growing demand for reducing environmental impact, the Urban Infrastructure & Environmental Products Company (President: Yoshiyuki Hirai) had been developing a new technology for PFAS-free pipe materials for ultrapure process applications in the manufacturing of advanced semiconductors. As a certain level of progress has been established in the development of this technology, SEKISUI CHEMICAL will start to formally propose it to customers.

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1. Background

In the semiconductor and flat panel display (FPD) industries *, the ultrapure water being used needs to be supplied without lowering its water quality. The types of pipe materials for this purpose include those that use resin materials—hard polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), and fluorocarbon resins (polyvinylidene fluoride or PVDF, polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE, and perfluoroalkoxy or PFA)—as well as those that use metallic materials in the form of metal pipes with special surface treatment. Today’s advanced semiconductor industry, with the progress of ultra-miniaturization, requires pipe materials that can suppress the elution of inorganic and organic matter as far as possible.

* The flat panel display (FPD) industry refers collectively to all industries related to the manufacture of flat panel displays, including liquid crystal displays, organic EL displays, and LED displays.

2. PFAS and Its Regulation

PFAS refers to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which are difficult to break down in nature and may affect the human body or ecosystems. Among PFAS, the manufacture, import, and such of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) are already prohibited. As of now, PVDF, PTFE, and other materials used in fluorocarbon resin pipes and fittings for ultrapure process applications are not within the scope of regulation in Japan. However, in Europe and the United States, studies are being conducted to comprehensively subject PFAS to regulation. Together with other initiatives, there is a global trend of tighter regulations regarding PFAS.

3. Chronology of Development

As a pioneer of plastic piping materials, SEKISUI CHEMICAL launched “Eslon Clean Pipe”—a hard PVC pipe material for transporting ultrapure water—in 1984. Since then, supported by an impressive track record, the product has been used in a wide range of applications. This time, a special olefin resin pipe material has been developed as a new low-elution material replacing fluorocarbon resins from the perspective of PFAS. In November 2022, a demonstration using an actual ultrapure water manufacturing system was started jointly with Kurita Water Industries Ltd. Compared to existing fluorocarbon resin pipe materials, this special olefin resin pipe material can reduce CO 2 emissions during manufacturing by approximately 80%. Furthermore, in response to the global trend of PFAS regulation, SEKISUI CHEMICAL started working on developing PFAS-free pipes and fittings for ultrapure process applications.

4. Future Prospects

With the establishment of this PFAS-free technology, SEKISUI CHEMICAL will start to formally propose it to customers and will aim for market launch within fiscal 2026. The company will also undertake development toward the early realization of creating valves, gaskets, and other pipe materials that are totally free from PFAS in the area of ultrapure process applications.

SEKISUI CHEMICAL is accelerating the creation and market expansion of products—such as clean pipes—with high contribution to solving issues in the natural and social environments. For the realization of a sustainable society as well as sustainable growth as a company, the Products to Enhance Sustainability System is being promoted Group-wide to achieve ESG management at a higher level.

SEKISUI CHEMICAL will seek to realize a sustainable society by 2030 through creating products that can contribute to solving issues in the natural and social environments when being manufactured as well as when customers use them.

(Reference) Eslon Clean Pipe System catalog
https://eslon-plant.jp/catalog/Catalog-JE_CleanPipeSystem.pdf

(Reference) Corporate profile of Kurita Water Industries Ltd.
Company name: Kurita Water Industries Ltd.
Address: Nakano Central Park East, 4-10-1 Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0001, Japan
Representative: Hirohiko Ejiri, President and Representative Executive Officer
Paid-in Capital: 13.4 billion yen
Established: July 13, 1949
No. of employees: 8,151 (consolidated)
Website: https://www.kurita-water.com/

Ultrapure water manufacturing system used to conduct the demonstration test at Kurita Innovation Hub; the blue pipes are the pipes under demonstration

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Jeffrey R. Holland, a high-ranking official in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who was next in line to become the faith's president, has died. He was 85.

Holland died early Saturday morning from complications associated with kidney disease, the church announced on its website.

Holland, who died in Salt Lake City, led a governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which helps set church policy while overseeing the many business interests of what is known widely as the Mormon church.

He was the longest-tenured member of the Quorum of the Twelve after President Dallin H. Oaks, making him next in line to lead the church under a long-established succession plan. Oaks, 93, became president of the church and its more than 17 million-strong global membership in October.

Henry B. Eyring, who is 92 and one of Oaks' two top counselors, is now next in line for the presidency.

Holland had been hospitalized during the Christmas holiday for ongoing health complications, the church said. Experts on the faith pointed to his declining health in October when Oaks did not select Holland as a counselor.

His death leaves a vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve that Oaks will fill in coming months, likely by calling a new apostle from a lower-tier leadership council. Apostles are all men in accordance with the church’s all-male priesthood.

Holland grew up in St. George, Utah, and worked for many years in education administration before his call to join the ranks of church leadership. He served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University, the Utah-based faith's flagship school, from 1980 to 1989 and was a commissioner of the church’s global education system.

Under his leadership, the Provo university worked to improve interfaith relations and established a satellite campus in Jerusalem. The Anti-Defamation League later honored Holland with its “Torch of Liberty” award for helping foster greater understanding between Christian and Jewish communities.

Oaks, also a former BYU president, reflected Saturday on his more than 50 years of friendship and service with Holland, calling their relationship “long and loving.”

“Over the last three decades as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he lifted the weary, encouraged the faithful and bore a powerful witness of the Savior — even through seasons of significant personal trials,” Oaks said.

Holland was known as a dynamic orator whose sermons combined scholarship with tenderness. In 2013 he spoke to church members about supporting loved ones with depression and other mental illnesses, sharing openly about times when he felt “like a broken vessel.”

Holland is widely remembered for a 2021 speech in which he called on church members to take up metaphorical muskets in defense of the faith's teachings against same-sex marriage. The talk, known colloquially as “the musket fire speech,” became required reading for BYU freshmen in 2024, raising concern among LGBTQ+ students and advocates.

Holland was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia Terry Holland. He is survived by their three children, 13 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.

This story has been corrected to show that Holland was preceded in death by his wife.

Associated Press writer Jeff Martin in Atlanta contributed.

FILE - Jeffrey R. Holland, member of the quorum of the twelve apostles, speaks during a news conference at the Conference Center, in Salt Lake City, Jan. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File )