Air-con coolant controversy
An experiment carried out by German motoring magazine Autobild claims that new 'eco-friendly' car refrigerant, expected to become the industry standard, turns into a deadly gas in a fire.
Approved in the US, Europe and Japan, the HFO-1234yf coolant for car mobile air conditioning systems is already fitted in Toyotas and Suburus . The coolant produces 98 per cent less climate damaging gases than its predecessor, R134a.
Autobild carried out lab tests together with the University of Munich. A pig's head was sprayed with HF and the horrible result can be seen in pictures and a video on Autobild's website.
A German expert, who conducted the test for Autobild on the compound has warned that it is should be scrapped as it is much more flammable than the current coolant and when heated above 500C (932F) releases hydrogen fluoride, a highly toxic gas. Temperatures in car fires can easily reach twice that heat. Talking to the UK's Daily Telegraph, Prof Andreas Kornath, an inorganic chemistry professor at Munich University who has been studying the substance for 20 years. said: "You have 600g of this cooling agent per car, which if it burned completely would produce 200g of hydrogen fluoride at a level of concentration that is very high. For a human just one gram is deadly – either inhaled in gas form, through the skin or when dissolved in water,"
The odourless gas has no instant effect but once inside the body, a person dies within a day or so in terrible pain due to internal burns and muscle failure.
"This product should not be on the market. There is a real risk every time a car catches fire, which happens 30,000 times per year in Germany alone," Kornath said.
Prof Kornath issued his warning at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Honeywell, which produces the product, has refuted the claims.
"The risk of HF formation is not higher than with R134a – and this refrigerant has been used for decades without any recorded incident," said Honeywell's Sabine Chmielewski.
Toyota spokesman Jean-Yves Jault said: "We undertook flammability tests and risk assessment with an independent third party institute, and the results confirmed the safety of the new refrigerant.”
He said that that the phenomenon of hydrogen fluoride gas is 'not new', and that concentration of fluorine atoms was 'actually much higher' in the historic refrigerant, R134a.
