Can Chemists Save The World From Chemists?

The Race Is On To Replace Ozone-Eating CFCs. The Entrants: Corporate Giants And Upstart Startups Catalyzed by an international agreement to freeze, and eventually to reduce usage of damaging cholorflourocarbons (CFCs)—and by DuPont Co.’s recent decision to voluntarily comply with the guidelines-the once-cool CFC research arena has transformed into a very hot race. Scientist Michael Hayes, for example, works on the boundaries of matter, studying the reactions that occur between organic molecules. While most of his past work has been applied in the petroleum business, that has changed during the last two years. Hayes and his team of researchers at Fernandino Beach, Fla.-based Petroferm are now busy producing a new solvent that may help save the ozone shield and turn a tidy profit for their company. Petroferm has joined a massive worldwide research ‘effort to develop substitutes for CFCs, which have been used for everything from foaming agents to cleaning solvents for electronics and which are destroying the ozone layer. Ironically, Petroferm’s stiffest competition includes the chemical giants; Du Pont, Pennwalt, and Allied-Signal, for example, who own a lion’s share of the CFC market, plus smaller companies, who like Petroferm, see a chance to become major players in the chemical field. Hanging in the balance is a $28 billion annual market in goods and services dependent on CFCs. The stakes are so high that some of the rules of the game have been changed. The chemical giants, for example, appear willing to forego the opportunity to create new, patentable compounds. Instead, they are taking the fastest possible track to market, racing to develop the lucrative manufacturing processes for existing, non-proprietarial compounds. Yet another sign of the chemical industry’s commitment to finding CFC substitutes as rapidly as possible is its new-found harmony. In late 1987, American, European, and Japanese companies formed an international consortium to jointly conduct toxicity tests. But the cooperation only goes so far; the companies are competing fiercely in development of the processing technologies. “While there is cooperation, it’s because it is in everybody’s interest from the standpoint of the industry to be unified” in the search for a timely solution, says Kevin Fay, executive director of the Alliance for Responsible CFC Policy, which represents CFC producers and users in the United States. "Toxicity testing is an area where the companies can share costs and infirmtion without getting into proprietary issues." Meanwhile, the smaller companies are going it alone with more innovative approaches. Betting on the ingenuity of their scientists, they are searching out new compounds. Comments Hayes, director of research and development at Petroferm: "To say that all [viable CFC substitutes] have been found is reminiscent of statements made in the late 1800s to the effect that we should close down the U.S. patent office because everything that could be discovered has been." Thus, Cryodynamics Inc., a company located in Mountainside, N.J., is promoting the use of helium in cooling systems similar to those used on spacecraft. Rovac Corporation of Rockledge, Fla., claims to have built a refrigerator that runs on the hydrocarbon propellants adopted for aerosols after the EPA banned the use of CFCs in spray cans almost 10 years ago. And Petroferm itself, at the request of A.T.& T., has developed a solvent not dependent on CFCs for cleaning certain types of circuit boards. Even the feverish pace of this research, however, is too slow for the industries that are addicted to CFCs. Forced to work with $135 billion worth of existing air conditioners, refrigerators, and other U. S. equipment dependent on CFCs, they are scrambling for ways to redesign their products to run on substitutes. Few have as much at stake as the automotive manufacturers, which use CFC as an air conditioning coolant, in foam seats, as a degreaser, and as a solvent for cleaning electronics. With air conditioning units operating in an estimated 90 million cars in the U.S. alone, developing the technology that will run on a freon replacement has become a high priority. Also feeling the pressure is the foam-blowing industry, which depends on CFCs for home insulation, furniture cushioning, and packaging. "Unlike the other industries,” notes Lorraine Aulisio, vice president of technical services and regulatory affairs for Celotex of Tampa, Fla., "we actually rely on the chemical properties of CFCs to provide the characteristics of our product... We use CFCs to blow the foam mechanically or physically into the building, and then we also rely on it to provide insulation." But the truly needy, if increasingly worried environmental scientists are to be believed, are the world’s peoples. Spurred by mounting evidence that CFCs are destroying the ozone layer, more than 30 countries participated last fall in the drafting of an international treaty. The agreement calls for a freeze of CFC consumption at the 1986 level by 1990, a 20% reduction by 1995, and a further reduction to half the 1986 level by the turn of the century. In the next few weeks the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue a mandate requiring these reductions in the U.S. Will scientists who gave the world CFCs be able to save the enironment from them? "Our scientists are very enthused,” said C.A. (“Tony”) McCain, alternatives program manager in the Freon Products Division of Wilmington, Del.-based Du Pont. With so many chemists on the job, non-toxic, substitutes are bound to be identified. The question remains: Which team will cross the finish line first? Hayes’ belief in his scientists’ ability to develop a winner is seemingly undaunted by the field of formidable contenders. “No one should ever underestimate the cleverness of human beings,” he quipped, "especially when there is profit to be made." Greg Freiherr is an information analyst with GFI, a consulting firm in the Washington, D.C., area.

Can Chemists Save The World From Chemists?

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