WASHINGTON, (May 5, 2005) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with vehicle manufacturers, parts suppliers, and other organizations are warning car and truck owners to avoid the use of flammable hydrocarbon refrigerants.

The refrigerants are being marketed on the Internet, at flea markets and swap meets, and in some service shops, but are not authorized for this use. In the U.S., it is illegal to use hydrocarbon refrigerants to replace CFC-12 used in cars manufactured before 1994. Hydrocarbon refrigerants used in newer vehicles designed for refrigerant HFC-134a will void the air conditioner warranty and may endanger service technicians. Leaking air conditioning systems charged with hydrocarbons pose serious risks of fire or explosion under the hood or inside the passenger compartment.

“The U.S. EPA urges vehicle owners to do their part to protect the environment and to ensure their own safety by properly servicing air conditioners with refrigerants listed by EPA and recommended by vehicle manufacturers,” said Drusilla Hufford, Director of EPA’s Stratospheric Protection Division. “Professional service includes electronic refrigerant identification, leak testing, leak repair, defective parts replacement, and recovery and recycling of refrigerant.”

The Environmental Protection Agency, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Mobile Air Conditioning Society Worldwide, the vehicle manufacturers, automotive organizations and suppliers listed below agree that hydrocarbons are unsafe as refrigerants in vehicle mobile air conditioning systems designed for CFC-12 and HFC-134a.

“Existing mobile air conditioning systems are not designed to use a hydrocarbon refrigerant that is highly flammable and similar to what supplies the fire in your back yard barbeque,” said Ward Atkinson, Chair of the SAE Interior Climate Control Standards Committee.

The motor vehicle service community and environmental authorities are working to phase out the use of CFC-12 refrigerants that deplete the stratospheric ozone layer and to reduce the emissions of HFC-134a, a greenhouse gas.

EPA has found no persuasive evidence that hydrocarbons are safe to use as refrigerants in vehicles designed for non-flammable refrigerants such as CFC-12 or HFC-134a. EPA banned the use of hydrocarbon refrigerants as a replacement for CFC-12 under the authority granted by the Clean Air Act and has authority to take enforcement action to protect the public against companies violating the law.

No vehicle manufacturer has endorsed or authorized the use of hydrocarbon refrigerants in current production mobile air conditioning systems and no professional or technical association has approved the use of hydrocarbon refrigerants. Vehicle warranties are voided for any air conditioning system that has been charged with hydrocarbons. Vehicle manufacturers only recognize HFC-134a as acceptable for use in their current mobile air conditioning systems.

Easy identification by service technicians using sophisticated refrigerant identifiers will help avoid the risk of explosion and guard against the contamination of equipment when refrigerant is recovered and recycled.

— from Truckinginfo.com