Ban ozone depleting refrigerant - R22

CFCs (Freon) have been depleting our ozone layer for a few decades now. Although CFCs like R12 have been terminated, HCFCs like R22 which are equally harmful are still in use on a large scale in India and refrigeration units are still being produced with this refrigerant.

HCFC stands for Hydro-Chloro-Fluoro-Carbon which contains Chlorine. It is said that one chlorine molecule can react with about 100,000 molecules of ozone(O3) converting it into oxygen(O2). But in theory it can react with an infinite amount of ozone molecules and cause a chain reaction. This is very harmful and is eating away our ozone layer. Ozone depletion is a major concern and can cause skin cancer, eye problems, respiratory problems and increases global warming as it allows UV rays from the sun to enter our atmosphere.

The refrigerant in the air conditioning unit itself is not a problem but when there is a leak the HCFCs are released directly into the atmosphere. More over, as A/C technicians in India are not well trained, they quite often release this harmful ozone depleting refrigerant gas directly into the atmosphere, when major maintenance is to be done on a system. The gas can easily be collected and disposed off responsibly but that is not being done in India. It has strictly been banned in majority of the countries of the world more than a decade ago.

There are many alternative refrigerants available suitable for the same systems and would not be a problem to change over to. Nevertheless, I believe that if one requires the luxury of an A/C they should be responsibly willing to bear the slight extra price of the eco-friendly refrigerants. I too own an A/C and I would be happy to change over to an anti ozone depleting refrigerant if it helps mother earth (which it definitely will). But as I mentioned earlier it is not the systems already filled with refrigerant that pose a threat, it is the lack of knowledge of our A/C technicians that pose a threat.

It has been scheduled to be phased out by the year 2030 in India but I do not see any signs of this happening. Also due to malpractice regarding this harmful refrigerant as mentioned above, I humbly request our leaders to look into the matter and to ban R22 refrigerant from being used in A/C systems in India and to also impose certain laws and fines regarding the same.