Fact Check: Refrigerator coolant can harm ozone layer
Study shows that a class of coolants (HFC) depletes the ozone layer by a measurable amount, even though small.
In the ancient times, before home refrigerators were invented, people preserved their food using natural cooling methods, including storing food directly in cold water.
Others cut ice, dug pits in the ground and stored their food there, covering the pits with materials like saw dust.
In 1913, the first home electric refrigerator was invented by Fred W. Wolf. The fridge featured a refrigeration unit on top of an icebox, with mass production beginning five years later, in 1918.
This time, with a self-contained compressor. Years later, Modern refrigerators were made, which used coolants, which absorb heat and leave your food cold.
However, many refrigerants, such as chlorofluorocarbons(CFC) were soon discovered to be harmful to the environment, especially by damaging the ozone layer, which absorbs the sun’s radiation and prevents it from reaching the earth’s surface.
To replace them, companies started using hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), which were less harmful, but had a strong heat trapping effect that contributed to global warming.
The Australian Department of Climate change, Energy, Environment and Water states in their website that refrigerants in air conditioners and refrigerants damage the ozone layer.
It goes on to state that “one kilogram of the refrigerant R410a has the same greenhouse impact as two tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of running your car for six months.”
However, in this era of the internet, some social media users have claimed that the ozone depletion because of refrigerator coolants is a hoax.
One user, on January 18 posted a screenshot of an old newspaper cutting that showed that refrigerator coolant can harm ozone, and captioned it with “35 years ago today...
The first atmospheric hoax scared the public that ozone depletion would increase skin cancer five per cent and causes 5,000 deaths annually in the US. None of that ever happened. But we do pay pointlessly more for refrigeration and cooling.”
The tweet from the verified user attracted 625 retweets, 1613 likes and 17 quote tweets. This claim is however false, as a 2022 study conducted by NASA shows that a class of coolants(HFC) depletes the ozone layer by a measurable amount, even though small.
The study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, focused on five types of HFC expected to make the most contributions to global warming by 2050, and found that they indirectly contribute to depletion of the ozone layer.
“HFC emissions cause increased warming of the stratosphere, speeding up the chemical reactions that destroy ozone molecules, and they also decrease ozone levels in the tropics by accelerating the upward movement of ozone-poor air. According to the model, their impact is such that HFCs will cause a 0.035 percent decrease in ozone by 2050,” says NASA.
Significantly decrease
The study also states that if humans reduced HFC emissions by half, the damage to the ozone layer would significantly decrease.
The claim that seeks to discredit the link between ozone layer depletion and skin cancer increase is also false, as science has shown that ozone depletion increases harmful solar ultraviolet radiation reaching the Earth, and increases the incidences of skin cancer
According to a study titled Ozone Layer Depletion and Emerging Public Health Concerns - An Update on Epidemiological Perspective of the Ambivalent Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure published in Frontiers in Oncology, the depletion of the ozone, from the late 20th century, and which resulted in disruption of biological life and processes, was as a result of rapid industrialization and high consumption of chlorofluorocarbons.
“There are mainly three ways climate changes and their after-effects have shown their adverse effects on different life forms; stratospheric ozone depletion, increase in surface temperature due to global warming, and air pollution. Research suggests that globally and especially among the fair-skinned populations, melanoma rates are increasing by 4 per cent to 5 per cent annually,” says the study.
“Further, increased temperatures/heat also has an impact on carcinogenesis. Past research has shown that non-melanoma skin cancer risk increases for every one-degree rise of temperature, suggesting that as the planet continues to warm, there’s the possibility that rising temperatures could further drive and amplify the induction of skin cancer cases due to UV radiation over exposure,” reads the study in part.
The study further notes that skin cancer in body parts most exposed, like hands and face points at repeated exposure to ultraviolet radiation being the cause.
“Also, there exists a clear relationship between increased incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers with some countries, where there are high UV radiation levels.”
To regulate the production of ozone depleting substances and protect the environment, the world signed the Montreal Protocol. Adopted in 1987, the protocol made provisions to be accomplished by both developed and developing countries to phase out ozone depleting substances.
These chemicals were commonly used in refrigeration, air conditioning, and other industrial processes.
The treaty was developed under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and has since been ratified by 197 countries, making it one of the most successful international environmental agreements in history.
The treaty sets specific targets for the reduction and eventual elimination of ozone-depleting substances and has been amended multiple times to include new substances and to accelerate the phase-out schedule.
As a result of the protocol, the production and consumption of CFCs and HCFCs have been greatly reduced, and the Antarctic ozone hole is expected to heal in the coming decades.
This fact check was produced by Nation with support from Code for Africa’s Pesa Check, International Fact Checking Network, and African Fact Checking Alliance Network
