
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 7, 1994                   TAG: 9401070138
SECTION: MISCELLANEOUS                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

REPLACEMENT REFRIGERANTS OZONE-FRIENDLY

HFCs, chemicals being developed to replace the ozone-eroding chlorofluorocarbons used in most air conditioners, have been found in new tests to be "ozone-friendly," scientists said Thursday.

A.R. Ravishankara, a chemist at a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration laboratory in Boulder, Colo., said HFCs are about 50,000 times less destructive of ozone than are the CFCs. Additionally, HFCs last only 15 years in the atmosphere; CFCs can endure for 50 years, he said.

- Associated Press

by CNB