Contaminated refrigerant is everybody's problem.

We all know it's a good idea to identify the refrigerant in an A/C system before connecting a recovery/recycle machine to the car. But have you ever thought about connecting your identifier to a brand new factory-fresh 30-pound cylinder? Since the first time a shortage of R-134a drove up prices, bargain-priced refrigerant from overseas has been imported in bulk and in 30-pound cylinders, and some of it is contaminated in ways that are difficult or impossible to detect.

We learned about some new problems being caused by this through anecdotal (undocumented) evidence gathered at the Mobile Air Conditioning Society (MACS) Worldwide convention last January. A closer look has led us to some hard evidence that's positively frightening. Understanding the situation can help you safeguard your equipment, your good reputation, your customers' cars and the nation's supply of refrigerant.

Here is a counterfeit cylinder with CFC 12 inside that was discovered in Georgia. The only way to tell if refrigerant is counterfeit is to test the gas inside, and an unscrupulous manufacturer can easily slip the gas into any tank. (Photo: © Ezra Clark/Environmental Investigation Agency)

Every new car sold in North America leaves the factory with pure R-134a in the air conditioning (A/C) system. If a different refrigerant is ever added, that system is considered contaminated because only pure R-134a has been tested and approved for use in that system by the car manufacturer and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Because other alternative refrigerants are legally sold in retail stores, unique blend combinations can be created by people servicing their own A/C system. If that A/C system ever needs service, the blend doesn't necessarily pose any serious problems to the shop if the system has been labeled or if the tech uses a refrigerant identifier and a spare cylinder for storing the refrigerant blend. In most states, it's even legal for a shop to reinstall that blend into the same vehicle, as long as the job is done properly to protect the environment. Whatever decisions you make, every professional who services an A/C refrigeration system is obligated by law to protect the Earth's atmosphere.

Why it matters
Air conditioning refrigerant is one of several chemicals targeted by the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer. With this international treaty, 189 nations have agreed to phase out production of substances known to damage the ozone layer. One of the worst is the chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) known as R-12 refrigerant, because it can continue destroying ozone for years after its release into the atmosphere. 

The stratospheric ozone layer prevents more than 90 percent of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation from reaching the earth's surface. UV radiation is known to suppress the human immune system and to cause skin cancer; it also damages crops and marine plant life, the very base of the planet's food chain. Last year, a hole in the ozone layer over the northern Arctic region grew to the size of North America, and surface UV radiation in several parts of the world reached the highest levels ever measured. Earth scientists around the world agree that extended or frequent periods of high UV levels will have economic, environmental and human health consequences that will affect the next several generations.

The Montreal Protocol was enacted in 1989, and although the United States has not ratified that treaty, we follow many of its rules voluntarily. Our own Clean Air Act was amended by Congress in 1990 to adopt many of the same measures for protecting the ozone layer, including ending CFC production. By 1994, domestic auto manufacturers had stopped installing R-12 in new vehicles and switched completely to R-134a, and all the imports followed soon after. By January 1996, all new refrigeration equipment made or sold in this country had been modified to use non-ozone depleting refrigerants. Today it is still legal to use R-12 in equipment that was designed for it, but now that the domestic supply of virgin R-12 is exhausted, only recovered/reclaimed R-12 is legal for sale in the United States.

However, new R-12 is still produced and used legally in developing nations. The largest producer is China.

The Montreal Protocol has been revised several times, most recently in Beijing in 1999, when China agreed to cease production of CFC by the end of 2007. While they have closed 31 production plants and are gradually changing over to other non-ozone-damaging refrigerants, production continues illegally at some of those plants and as unauthorized extra shifts at the few remaining legal plants. 

Today most of the world's black market refrigerant originates in countries where R-12 is still made legally, including China, Russia and India. Some of it is sold here as reclaimed R-12, but it's also blended with a wide variety of other refrigerants and labeled as almost anything, including R-134a. Black market R-134a is the most likely source of one form of refrigerant contamination that has infected the U.S. supply.

Contaminated refrigerant
Since 1953, the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute (ARI) has set the standards for A/C equipment produced in the United States. This is not an international group like SAE, but most of the world adheres to refrigerant standards laid out in ARI 700, "Physical Properties of Single Component Refrigerants." Along with physical characteristics of the refrigerant, ARI 700 also defines the amount of contaminants allowed in a cylinder of new or reclaimed refrigerant, including air, water, acids, ozone-damaging chlorides and solids. However, one contaminant that is not mentioned is unsaturates. 

Unsaturates are chemicals whose molecules can bond easily with each other and/or with other substances. They occur naturally in many things, even food, and they can form clumps or leave a sticky residue on anything they touch. Some are known to cause acute and severe health hazards.
Unsaturates are generated in refrigerant during its manufacture, but because R-134a and its predecessor R-12 have also been used as cleaning fluids, aerosol propellants and medicine inhalers, removing unsaturates has long been just another step in the manufacturing process. For decades, refrigerant producers in the United States, Europe and Asia have kept the level of unsaturates in their finished products at or below 40 parts per million (ppm), but that limit has never been part of the ARI standard because it wasn't deemed necessary.

Today, refrigerant is being produced in China that meets the ARI 700 standard but has not been cleansed of unsaturates before being released to the market. In an A/C system, these unsaturates are blamed for clogged orifice tubes and expansion valves, as well as for clogging valves in recycle/recovery equipment. 

We have found no reports of aerosol cans and inhalers contaminated with unsaturates, but it is quite possible.

Some of the world's largest refrigerant producers, have been manufacturing refrigerant in China for years. Those refrigerants conform to the 40 ppm unsaturates limit. However, when R-134a first became scarce, a number of local Chinese producers entered the world market on their own, and some of their products do not meet the 40 ppm unsaturates quality standard used by more experienced producers. Much of this contaminated refrigerant is being sold in bulk for repackaging in 12-ounce cans and in 30-pound cylinders. 

The unsaturates cannot be detected with any known refrigerant identifier. At this point, most of the refrigerant contaminated with unsaturates has been discovered only after installation, and it's known to cause poor A/C system performance, clogged expansion devices and a dark-colored residue on A/C service equipment. 

The best way to identify it before installation its by its unusually low price and questionable origin. As Paul DeGuiseppi, MACS' manager of Service Training told us, "If the deal is too good to be true, it probably is." MACS and other groups in the industry recommend buying refrigerant only from well-known, reputable sources and visually comparing the can or cylinder with older inventory. Pay special attention to details on the label that might offer a clue as to its origin.

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), an international non-profit organization "committed to investigating and exposing environmental crime," released a report in January 2006 that says more R-12 is produced in China than they use domestically and that the excess is being illegally smuggled to other countries. (Photo: EIA)

At this time, the ARI is rewriting their refrigerant purity standards to include the 40 ppm limit on unsaturates.

Counterfeit refrigerant
According to a report published this past Janu-ary by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a well-respected international non-profit organization "committed to investigating and exposing environmental crime," more R-12 is produced in China than they use domestically, and the excess is being illegally smuggled to other countries. Most of it is shipped to third-world countries, but from there much of it is passed on to industrialized nations that have already ceased production of R-12 but still use it. The United States still uses R-12 and other CFCs legally for mobile A/C systems and for scientific and military applications that cannot be switched over to other chemicals.

When R-12 production stopped in this country, supplies dwindled, prices skyrocketed and the black market moved quickly to meet the demand. The EIA reports that by 1997 - little more than one year after production stopped - new R-12 was leaving China bound for the United States in 30-pound cylinders labeled as reclaimed refrigerant, the only kind that is still legal to import here. This is still happening today. According to the EIA report, more than 200 metric tonnes of black market CFCs falsely labeled as "reclaimed" are now part of our military's stockpile. 

Illegal R-12 is also being blended with other refrigerants and shipped to markets all over the world in 30-pound cylinders with counterfeit labels. One of the more common counterfeit labels is that of Allied Signal (now Honeywell) Genetron 134a. The EIA report states "counterfeit cylinders of well-known brands are now increasingly appearing on the market and in seizures made by authorities in many developing countries. Frequently they are smuggled in counterfeit cylinders labeled as R-134a." 

These counterfeit cylinders also have been smuggled into Germany, Israel, South Africa and other non-CFC producing nations. Illegal R-12 was packaged in 12-ounce cans labeled as "air-conditioner oil" and shipped to Japan.

Counterfeit R-134a has made its way into the United States. It's been found in 12-ounce cans and 30-pound cylinders, and in vehicles and 
recycle/recovery equipment. Some has entered the country in 30-pound cylinders, but some of it left China in bulk and was packaged elsewhere in cylinders and 12-ounce cans without being tested for quality or purity. 
Contaminates that have been found include R-12, R-22, R-152, air, water and high levels of unsaturates. While unsaturates typically result from low-quality manufacturing, new cylinders have been found with unusual blends and with up to 2 pounds of water, indicating the contamination is intentional. Not all of the contaminants can be detected with shop equipment, but an identifier can still offer useful clues. For instance, Peter Coll of Neutronics Inc. says a cylinder with R-134a and two pounds of water would show up on their identifier as pure refrigerant with a high percentage of air.

The answer
Everyone familiar with this situation offers the same common sense advice. Buy refrigerant only from a well-known source - one that has a solid reputation - and ask if they can offer any assurance or guarantee as to its quality. 

Test the refrigerant you buy with an identifier before using it and test any refrigerant in your shop right now, especially refrigerant taken from a vehicle. Take all available steps to protect and maintain your recovery/recycle equipment, and of course, use an identifier on every A/C system you service. If in doubt about the identifier's readings, contact the equipment manufacturer and ask for its interpretation. 

It's impossible to know how much counterfeit and contaminated refrigerant is on wholesalers' and retailers' shelves right now, and even if it stops entering the country tomorrow, it could show up in a customer's vehicle years from now. There is no guaranteed way to protect your equipment and your business from counterfeit or contaminated refrigerant, but these simple steps can help check the spread of contamination in our nation's refrigerant supply.