Fact sheets

The production and use of the most damaging ozone-destroying chemicals has been substantially reduced in all industrialized nations. CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), the most widely used and most damaging group of chemicals, are no longer manufactured in Canada. A limited amount of CFCs are still manufactured in a few industrialized countries for essential medical use in the treatment of asthma, where the CFCs are used in metered dose inhalers. Even this minor use will be phased out in a few years. Replacement chemicals have now been found for most of the common uses of CFCs. For example, spray cans now contain less harmful chemicals, such as butane; and foam cushioning is made with HCFCs (hydrogenated CFCs), which are much less damaging to the ozone layer. (HCFCs will also eventually be phased out under the Montreal Protocol).

However, CFCs are still in widespread use, primarily as a coolant in older appliances and equipment. This includes most refrigerators and air-conditioners manufactured before the mid-1990s (CFCs were gradually phased out in industrialized countries between 1987 and 1996).

The chemicals in these older appliances are now carefully handled - when an appliance is serviced, or disposed of, the CFCs must be removed, and recycled or destroyed. Refrigerators and air conditioners manufactured after 1996 (the date CFCs were phased out in Canada) do not contain any CFCs.

Halons, although not as widely used, are even more damaging to the ozone than CFCs. Their most common use was in fire extinguishers. The production of halons has now been eliminated in most industrialized countries. New equipment uses alternative chemicals which are much less damaging, and, in most cases, have no effect at all on the ozone layer.

Efforts are now underway to phase out the remaining ozone-depleting chemicals which are still produced and used in industrialized countries. This includes methyl bromide, a commonly used agriculture chemical which controls insects, weeds and other pests.