CONSUMERS INTENDING TO BUY new cars, new refrigerators and home airconditioning units must make sure that these are Chloroflourocarbons (CFC)-free.

This is the advice given by the Land Transportation Office and the Environmental Management Bureau.

By the year 2010, airconditioning units of cars or refrigerants using Freon, a brand of chloroflourocarbons , will already be phased out. The same is true with the refrigerators and the airconditioning units in the homes.

The Department of Transportation and Communication - Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) - Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are implementing a regulation under the DOTC-DENR Joint Administrative Order No. 3 series of 2006, to inspect car aircon systems as a requirement for renewal and registration starting the year 2006.

This means that all vehicles with model 1999 up to present should have HFC-134a (R-134a or non-CFC) airconditioning system. Any vehicles from among the said models found to have been converted back to Chlorofluorocarbon- 12, also known as R-12 or Freon, system shall not be allowed to register or renew registration with LTO unless airconditioning system is changed back to non-CFC system.

When buying new cars, make sure that the airconditioning system is CFC free already. CFC-12 or Freon, an ozone depleting substance, is widely used as cooling agent in car airconditioning. CFC-12 is set for total phase-out (zero importation) by year 2010 in the Philippines , being one of the 189 country signatories to the Montreal Protocol on the Protection of the Ozone Layer.

Vehicles with HFC-134a aircon system are restricted to convert back to Freon. This restriction is to discourage the practice of back-conversion or the charging of a non-CFC aircon system (R134a) with Freon, which is commonly practiced by vehicle owners to save on the cost of their refrigerant. It is also a way to encourage vehicle owners to use environmental- friendly refrigerant such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFC-134A or R-134A) and other blends.

Older models (1998 and below), with CFC-12 or Freon-using airconditioning system will still be allowed to register until the phase-out year of 2012. However, they may opt to retrofit their airconditioning system with alternative refrigerants, such HFC-134a, which is more ozone-friendly. He said that the LTO maintains a database to determine the volume of vehicles that uses CFC and non-CFC airconditioning system.

The phase-out of CFCs is also covered by DENR Administrative Order 2004-8 (Chemical Control Order [CCO] for Ozone-depleting Substances), under Republic Act 6969 (Toxic Substances, Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act). The CCO includes provisions against back conversion and venting, which is the intentional release of CFC when servicing air-conditioning systems.

Chlorohydrocarbons are any of several organic compounds composed of carbon, fluorine, chlorine, and hydrogen. CFCs are manufactured under the trade name Freon (q.v.). Developed during the 1930s, CFCs found wide application after World War II. These halogenated hydrocarbons, notably trichlorofluorometh ane (CFC-11, or F-11) and dichlorodifluoromet hane (CFC-12, or F-12), have been used extensively as aerosol-spray propellants, refrigerants, solvents, and foam-blowing agents. They are well-suited for these and other applications because they are nontoxic and nonflammable and can be readily converted from a liquid to a gas and vice versa.

Notwithstanding its commercial and industrial value, CFCs have been found to pose a serious environmental threat. Studies undertaken by various scientists during the 1970s revealed that CFCs released into the atmosphere accumulate in the stratosphere, where they had a deleterious effect on the ozone layer.

Stratospheric ozone shields living organisms on Earth from the harmful effects of the Sun's ultraviolet radiation; even a relatively small decrease in the stratospheric ozone concentration can result in an increased incidence of skin cancer in humans and in genetic damage in many organisms. In the stratosphere the CFC molecules break down by the action of solar ultraviolet radiation and release their constituent chlorine atoms. These then react with the ozone molecules, resulting in their removal.

Because of a growing concern over stratospheric ozone depletion and its attendant dangers, a ban was imposed on the use of CFCs in aerosol-spray dispensers in the late 1970s by the United States , Canada , and the Scandinavian countries.. In 1990, 93 nations agreed to end production of ozone-depleting chemicals by the end of the century, and in 1992 most of those same countries agreed to end their production of CFCs by 1996