GETTING BY WITHOUT CFA's

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Some CFC refrigerantinstalled in the 1950s could still be in use today.

Following this action, several European nations and the United States have called for total phaseout of CFCs by the year 2000. In the U.S. there are several bills in Congress that would accomplish a phaseout by 2000 or even sooner. One of the big questions that remains is whether other compounds will be added to the restrictions. The HCFCs, including HCFC-22, which is currently available, are much less damaging to the ozone, but they do exhibit some ozone-depletion effects-between 3 and 7% that of CFC-11 and -12. Many of the replacements being investigated by chemical companies are in this class of compounds.

In addition to destroying the protective ozone layer, CFCs are also greenhouse gases. They trap outgoing heat from the earth's surface even more effectively than carbon dioxide-the number one offender. Had there been no constraints placed on CFC aerosol use in the late '70s, some experts claim that CFCs would today account for more global warming potential than CO 2 !

Finding Alternatives

Finding alternatives to CFCs involves first figuring out which products use the chemicals. That isn't always easy. Table 1 lists the most common CFC and halon compounds, along with their relative ozone-depletion effects, quantities produced, and uses. To help you figure out whether a particular product contains one of the more harmful CFCs or halons, the chemical names you might find on a label are given. But unless you have a degree in organic chemistry, you may have some trouble even reading the names, let alone recognizing them.

It's not always easy to determine which products use
ozone-depleting chemicals.

The next problem you'll encounter is that not all products manufactured with CFCs are identified as such. Rigid foam insulation and flexible foam, for example, do not list the foaming agents. Several pieces of legislation currently under consideration would require manufacturers to clearly identify products that contain ozone-harmful CFCs.

The following paragraphs cover the most common products using CFCs. The information should help you both to identify those products and materials using CFCs and to find alternatives.

Insulation

Most rigid-board insulation is produced with CFC-11 or -12 as the blowing agent. Injected into the foam as a liquid during manufacturing, the CFC boils, causing gas bubbles to form in the curing foam. The cured foam has bubbles of CFC gas throughout. A major benefit of CFC-produced insulation is that CFCs do not conduct heat as quickly as air does, so the R-value is higher. You get more insulation in a thinner layer. As a result, CFC-foamed insulation materials have grown tremendously in popularity over the past 20 years. Insulation accounts for about 30% of the CFCs used each year.

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