What is Freon?
Q: What is Freon?
A: Freon is a word for certain chemical compounds, often used as refrigerants.
Q: Who invented using Freon as a refrigerant?
A: Thomas Midgley, Jr. invented using Freon as a refrigerant.
Q: What are some of the components of refrigerants?
A: Refrigerants may contain carbon, chlorine, fluorine and sometimes bromine.
Q: Is Freon 10 toxic to animals?
A: Many kinds of freon are not toxic to animals.
Q: How does Freon affect ozone levels in the atmosphere?
A: The chlorine part of CFC refrigerants can reduce ozone and HCFCs can also damage ozone. HFCs do not have chlorine in them and do not reduce ozone in the atmosphere.
Q: Are there any environmental effects associated with using Freon as a refrigerant?
A: Most refrigerants can reduce the amount of ozone from the upper atmosphere which lets more ultraviolet light to come through which can cause skin cancer and cataracts, and can kill off plankton in the oceans. Additionally, most refrigerants increase global warming because they are powerful greenhouse gasses that increase global warming thousands of times more than carbon dioxide (CO2).
