In 1978 Jimmy Carter’s EPA began banning the use of Freon because of alleged damage to the ozone layer, in favor of HFC-134a coolants that would help save the world. But as we’ve recently found out, the only world the EPA saved was big democratic donor DuPont whose Freon patent was set to expire in 1979 and who, surprise!, owned the patent to the environment’s newest savior, HFC-134.
Another coincidence I’m sure, but Obama’s EPA recently discovered that HFC-134 is a potent greenhouse gas which must be eliminated to save the world….. before DuPont’s patent expires and just in time to save DuPont and Honeywell’s newest expensive, questionable refrigerant patent on HFO-1234yf, which will save the planet from the nonexistent global warming.
We all know HFO-1234yf’s only purpose is to enrich corporate elites for their donations to the Democrats, but is it safe?
A Daimler engineer told Reuters in 2012 that HFO-1234yf turned a car’s engine compartment into an inferno after small leaks were simulated. The fireball was caused by a mixture of the refrigerant and air-conditioning compressor oil spraying across the engine block, producing a quick heated mixture of toxic gas that included hydrogen fluoride, a corrosive compound that can destroy skin after the briefest of exposures and quickly causes blindness.
To be fair, The Society of Automotive Engineers which sets auto standards for the U.S. auto industry, tested the refrigerant and had different results, even going so far as to “suggest” Daimler “rigged” the tests to fail. But Daimler insisted that its tests were a better real-world approximation of a driving situation than anything the U.S. government used. “In a real-life test scenario, a head-on collision in which the refrigerant line is severed, the refrigerant is dynamically dispersed at high pressure near to hot components of the test vehicle’s exhaust system, and can indeed prove to be flammable in a hot engine compartment.”
It is interested to note that both DuPont and Honeywell’s safety summary refer to the chemical as “mildly flammable” but note that the flammability is “manageable.” Manageable? Is that along the same line of the Ford Pinto manageable? Ford Motors sold an exploding economy car for seven or eight years knowing that hundreds of people would needlessly burn to death because it was cheaper to pay claims than admit they screwed up. The federal government has much more experience at lying!
HFO-1234yf is not only extremely expensive, it is energy intensive to produce and the only known benefit is to line the pockets of both DuPont and Honeywell along with their investors, allowing them to continue their support of the far-left liberal wing of the Democratic party.
But those profits will be made at the expense of taxpayers, drivers and the environment.
- The potential damage from degradation by-products such as Trifluoracetic Acid, which is highly toxic and can damage inland lakes and potentially increase the ocean’s acidity?
- When burnt or exposed to heat, HFO-1234yf degrades into extremely toxic by-products of thermal decomposition, including hydrogen fluoride, lethal to humans at concentrations as small as 30ppm, and carbonyl halides, or phosgene, popularly known as “nerve gas,” used as a chemical weapon during WWI.
- The simplest fluoride, hydrogen fluoride (or hydrofluoric acid) is also highly corrosive and so toxic that burns about as big as the palm of one’s hand can be lethal. The agent binds avidly to calcium in body fluids that can result in heart failure, according to Professor Andreas Kornath, a chemist at the University of Munich, and when released into the atmosphere, it decomposes into other compo9unts that are extremely persistent in the environment.
- Carbonyl fluoride penetrates the skin more easily and causes severe irritation of the eyes, skin and airways. If inhaled, it can damage the alveoli in the lungs, allowing it to reach the circulation and shut down vital functions.
US auto companies, bribed by the Obama administration’s tradable credits that can be used to help manufacturers comply with new fuel and greenhouse gas standards, are moving to adopt 1234yf, despite its higher costs and safety scares. And it looks as if European auto makers will be forced to join or pay the piper.
Best bet? Don’t buy a car made after 2012.
