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CFCs 

Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFC's, have served the air conditioning and refrigeration industry for more than 50 years. One of their primary attributes ... stability ... has been found to be a cause of harm to our environment. And, therefore, the international community has agreed on regulations to bring about their phaseout.

CFC's are the primary cause of the ozone depletion. Contributions to Ozone Depletion, with CFC's making up more than 70 percent of the man-made ozone depleting chemicals in the atmosphere today

CFC Refrigerants 

Commercial chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) production began with R-12 in early 1931, R-11 in 1932, R-114 in 1933, and R-113 in 1934. The first hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerant, R-22, was produced in 1936.

By 1963, these five products accounted for 98% of the first total production of the organic fluorine industry. Annual sales had reached 372 million pounds, one-half of it R-12.[1] These chlorofluorochemicals were viewed as nearly nontoxic, nonflammable and highly stable, in addition to offering good thermodynamic properties and materials compatibility at a low cost.

Almost 50 years passed between the introduction of CFCs and recognition of their harm to the environment when released. Specific concerns relate to their depletion of stratospheric ozone and to possible global warming by their actions as greenhouse gases. Ironically, the high stability of CFCs enables them to deliver ozone-depleting chlorine to the stratosphere. The same stability prolongs their atmospheric lifetimes, and thus their persistence as greenhouse gases.

Refrigerators from the late 1800s until 1929 used the toxic gases, ammonia (NH3), methyl chloride (CH3Cl), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), as refrigerants. Several fatal accidents occurred in the 1920s because of methyl chloride leakage from refrigerator People started leaving their refrigerators in their backyards. A collaborative effort began between three American corporations, Frigidaire, General Motors and DuPont to search for a less dangerous method of refrigeration.

In 1928, Thomas Midgley, Jr. aided by Charles Kettering invented a "miracle compound" called Freon. Freon represents several different chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which are used in commerce and industry. The CFCs are a group of aliphatic organic compounds containing the elements carbon and fluorine, and, in many cases, other halogens (especially chlorine) and hydrogen. Freons are colorless, odorless, nonflammable, noncorrosive gases or liquids.

Side Note: Charles Kettering invented the first electric automobile ignition system. He was also the vice-president of the General Motors Research Corporation from 1920 to 1948. General Motors' scientist, Thomas Midgley invented leaded (ethyl) gasoline.

Midgley was chosen by Kettering to head the research into the new refrigerants. Frigidaire was issued the first patent, US#1,886,339, for the formula for CFCs on December 31, 1928.

In 1930, General Motors and DuPont formed the Kinetic Chemical Company to produce Freon®. By 1935, Frigidaire and its competitors had sold 8 million new refrigerators in the United States using Freon made by the Kinetic Chemical Company. In 1932, the Carrier Engineering Corporation used Freon in the world's first self-contained home air conditioning unit, called an " Amospheric cabinet".

Side Note: The trade name Freon® is a registered trademark belonging to E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (DuPont).

Because Freon is non-toxic, it eliminated the danger posed by refrigerator leaks. In just a few years, compressor refrigerators using Freon would become the standard for almost all home kitchens. In 1930, Midgley held a demonstration of the physical properties of Freon for the American Chemical Society by inhaling a lung-full of the new wonder gas and breathing it out onto a candle flame, which was extinguished, thus showing the gas's non-toxicity and non-flammable properties. Only decades later did people realize that such chlorofluorocarbons endangered the ozone layer of the entire planet.

Side Note: CFCs, or Freon, are now infamous for greatly adding to the depletion of the earth's ozone shield. Leaded gasoline is also a major pollutant, and Midgley secretly suffered from lead poisoning because of his invention, a fact he kept hidden from the public.

Thomas Midgley discoveries ranged from a way of getting salt into popcorn before it was popped, to a method for treating the contents of a swimming pool so that people could swim farther underwater.