Do Your Part To Limit Use Of Cfc Pollutants

Chemical compounds called chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are used to refrigerate 75 percent of the food we eat, cool 150 million homes and 100 million car interiors, propel our aerosol sprays, clean our electronic equipment, pad our packages and insulate our homes. We use them to do literally hundreds of jobs. In the process, they leak.

So now that you've fixed your leaky car air conditioner (April 29 column), you are no longer pouring ozone-depleting CFCs into the air around the clock. (Did I mention that a single chlorine atom freed from a CFC molecule can destroy 100,000 molecules of ozone?) Let's move on and plug a few other leaks.

A number of forms of CFCs are used as a propellant in aerosol cans. The government banned CFCs for non-essential use some years ago. However, ``essential use'' seems to cover some pretty flimsy cases. Would you believe spray cans of plastic string confetti?

Clip the Stratospheric Distress Card that appears with this column and keep it in your wallet. Use it as a field guide to CFCs, checking labels on aerosol cans. If you can live without a product that uses CFCs as a propellant, don't buy it.

Styrofoam is one source of CFCs that many people know about. The generic name for this rigid foam plastic is polystyrene. Food-packaging companies voluntarily agreed to stop using CFCs in their polystyrene products last year. They switched instead to a CFC cousin called HCFC-22.

HCFC-22 causes about 15 percent as much ozone destruction as CFCs do. Environmental groups have agreed not to pressure the food-packaging industry about HCFCs on the understanding that the manufacturers will switch to a completely benign substitute in the next five years.

As a consumer, you may choose to reward the manufacturers for this step by buying their products. Or, you may choose to boycott polystyrene food packaging such as egg cartons and hamburger ``clam shells'' until the harmless substitutes are available.

Most other kinds of polystyrene manufacturers have not followed the food packagers' lead. They still use the most destructive CFCs. Don't buy polystyrene coolers. Don't use polystyrene packaging unless you are recycling what was sent to you. Use straw or shredded newspaper instead.

Plastic-foam building insulation is also made with CFCs. Fiberglass, cellulose and other insulation materials can be used instead. These will have to be thicker to provide the same insulation value, but if you have the space, you can use them without sacrificing either warmth or the ozone layer.

Millions of pounds of CFCs are used in home refrigerators. Unlike car air conditioners, refrigerators rarely leak. They do break down, however. When the compressor is opened up for repairs, CFCs are released. Then the unit is refilled with CFCs.

The technology to capture and recycle these refrigerant CFCs exists - just barely. Whirlpool has started a CFC recovery program. Its factory service people are equipped with bags to capture escaping coolant. The coolant is being stored in shipping containers until recycling facilities are available.

If you own a Whirlpool fridge and it is broken, call 1-800-253-1301 to locate their factory service in your area. If you are junking an old fridge, and it happens to be a Whirlpool, call to see if someone can remove the CFCs before it goes to a landfill. If you are buying a new fridge, consider rewarding Whirlpool with your business.

Halons are another group of ozone assassins. The only place you are likely to come across them for household use is in portable fire extinguishers. The halon eventually leaks from the canister whether you use it or not. Traditional fire extinguishers are fine for home use.

There's not much you can do about most other CFC and halon uses - at the moment. However, the rising cost of these chemicals and the increasing government and consumer pressure on their manufacturers is spawning a new generation of substitutes. When new, safe products appear on the market, buy them.

Postscript:

Michael and Lucy Harter of Olympia have a tip for would-be recyclers of used motor oil: Don't use the ``oil changer'' boxes you buy at auto parts stores. The boxes contain an absorbent filler that makes the oil unfit for recycling. Use clean plastic milk jugs instead.

Susan McGrath's column runs every other Sunday in the Home/Real Estate section of The Times. Do you have a question about decisions you can make in your everyday life to help keep your household healthy? Have you found solutions? Send questions and comments to The Household Environmentalist, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111.

STRATOSPHERIC DISTRESS CARD

Carry this card to check labels at the store. The chemical compounds listed on the left; correspond to the words under them.

CFC-11 Trichlorofluoromethane ;

CFC-12 Dichlorodifluoromethane ;

CFC-113 Trichlorotrifluoroethane ;

CFC-114 Dichlorotetrafluoroethane ;

CFC-115 (Mono)chloropentafluoroethane ;

HALON-1211 Bromochlorodifluoroethane ;

HALON-1301 Bromotrifluoroethane ;

HALON-2402 Dibrometetrafluoroethane ;

METHYL ;

CHLOROFORM 1,1,1-Trichloroethane ;

CARBON TETRACHLORIDE ;

SOURCE: NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL.