Chemicals that eased one environmental problem may worsen another

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=223&content_id=CNBP_024253&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1&__uuid=b51ee8b5-295d-4659-b721-5db9e816f2d2

ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: March 03, 2010

Chemicals that eased one environmental problem may worsen another

“http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/jp9045116">Hydroxyl Radical Substitution in Halogenated Carbonyls: Oxalic Acid Formation”
Journal of Physical Chemistry A

Chemicals that helped solve a global environmental crisis in the 1990s — the hole in Earth’s protective ozone layer — may be making another problem — acid rain — worse, scientists are reporting. Their study on the chemicals that replaced the ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) once used in aerosol spray cans, air conditioners, refrigerators, and other products, appears in ACS’ Journal of Physical Chemistry A, a weekly publication: “http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/jp9045116">Hydroxyl Radical Substitution in Halogenated Carbonyls: Oxalic Acid Formation.”

Jeffrey Gaffney, Carrie J. Christiansen, Shakeel S. Dalal, Alexander M. Mebel and Joseph S. Francisco point out that hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) emerged as CFC replacements because they do not damage the ozone layer. However, studies later suggested the need for a replacement for the replacements, showing that HCFCs act like super greenhouse gases, 4,500 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The new study adds to those concerns, raising the possibility that HCFCs may break down in the atmosphere to form oxalic acid, one of the culprits in acid rain.

They used a computer model to show how HCFCs could form oxalic acid via a series of chemical reactions high in the atmosphere. The model, they suggest, could have broader uses in helping to determine whether replacements for the replacements are as eco-friendly as they appear before manufacturers spend billions of dollars in marketing them.

...

[hunter]

1. There were some interesting threads here recently about that.

Europe, Australia, and much of Asia has already decided that with proper engineering it's safe to use propane and other hydrocarbons as refrigerants in household refrigerators and automobiles.

When you look at the overall picture it certainly looks as if the chemical industry doesn't want to lose its lucrative patent refrigerant business to cheap simple chemicals like propane or carbon dioxide. It reminds me a lot of the pharmaceutical business where expensive patented medicines are pushed over inexpensive generics that are more effective with fewer adverse side effects.

There is outright rebellion against the proposed "replacements for replacements" in some sectors of the automobile and home appliance industry. In Europe hydrocarbon refrigerants have been universally adopted by all major refrigerator manufacturers. Car manufacturers do not want to build two types of air conditioning systems -- one for the U.S. using expensive patent refrigerants and one for the rest of world using hydrocarbon refrigerants.

Here in the United States there are intense "under the radar" public relations and lobbying campaigns against hydrocarbon refrigerants.

[petronius]

2. I expected this to be an MBTE thread

It's unfortunate that we can't learn that the cheapest fix for anything is not to break it in the first place. Instead of figuring out ways to spew less badly, why can't we focus on just spewing less?