Bad Effects of Refrigerant or Freon

Electronic equipment with a cooling function such as a refrigerator or air conditioner, both room air conditioners and car air conditioners, contain refrigerants or refrigerants.

Yes, appliances, such as refrigerators, air conditioners and freezers, contain chemicals called fluorinated hydrocarbons. People often refer to this chemical as Freon, which is a prominent brand name.

Reporting from Medical News Today, Monday (1/3/2021), freon is a dangerous substance. This nearly odorless and tasteless gas can cause severe symptoms if a person inhales too much at once.

Inhalation of refrigerant in high concentrations or in large quantities can cause death.

If someone suspects they have accidentally inhaled refrigerant, they should be rushed to the hospital immediately. If you do inhale in large quantities.

Refrigerant poisoning can occur if someone inhales Freon leaking from refrigeration equipment, such as refrigerators and air conditioners. Accidental refrigerant poisoning is rare, but can occur when someone works directly with refrigerant chemicals.

Mild exposure to freon in a well-ventilated area is usually not serious, as small amounts are usually inhaled.

So, what exactly does leaking freon smell like? Here’s an explanation.

Quoted from Stan’s AC, freon is a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) that helps the air conditioner or refrigerator remove heat from the atmosphere to keep the room or contents in the refrigerator cool, but can be dangerous to humans if not contained properly.

Freon normally travels through the enclosed copper coils in the air conditioning unit or refrigerator, but these coils can crack and result in refrigerant leaks. A freon leak will produce an odor between sweet and chloroform.

Freon leaks can be toxic. If you suspect a freon leak, talk to a technician who can use a freon leak detector to help with the problem.

Accidental freon poisoning is rare. Most cases of poisoning occur due to intentional exposure when someone wants to get drunk, or they inhale freon in an enclosed space.

Symptoms of mild to moderate refrigerant poisoning include the following. Headache Irritation of eyes, ears and throat Dizziness Frostbite if exposed to freons or rapidly expanding refrigerants Vomiting Chemical burns to skin Nausea Coughing.

Negative Impact of Inhaling Freon

Hard to Breathe and Irritation

If you inhale freon, what happens is difficulty breathing and swelling of the throat. Apart from that, it can also cause irritation to the eyes, nose, tongue, loss of vision, sore eyes, and burns to the throat.

Heart Disorders

In large quantities, inhaling freon can cause irregular heartbeats and even death. Another result is causing problems in the heart. Excessive use of Freon AC can cause side effects on the heart. Excessive inhalation of Freon AC can cause heart attacks, high blood pressure and normal heart rhythms leading to blood circulation.

Chlorofluorocarbon poisoning Symptoms of poisoning can include:

  • throat swelling,
  • difficulty breathing,
  • severe sore throat,
  • loss of sight,
  • burning eyes, nose, lips and tongue,
  • esophageal burns,
  • vomiting blood,
  • blood in stool,
  • severe abdominal pain,
  • Abnormal heart rhythm and impaired blood circulation.

Death

The worst consequence of Freon AC is death. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health or NIOSH had reported a death due to the use of air conditioning. The cause of death was an abnormal heart rhythm and suffocation from cooling in a confined space.

Very terrible right? Currently there are many AC users in Indonesia. Besides being able to cause global warming, it turns out that Freon in the air conditioner also has very terrible side effects. Unfortunately, until now no other compounds have been found that can replace the performance of freon.

In conclusion, it is very important to check the volume of the AC freon. Hopefully this article can be a reference in reducing the bad effects of using air conditioners.

How to Reduce the Negative Impact of Freon

Open the windows of the house so that outside air is free to enter and there is a circulation of air exchange.

If you work in a place that uses air conditioning, it is recommended to drink lots of water and exercise regularly.

Even though the effects of freon are accidentally inhaled, these problems can be prevented by taking the steps mentioned above.

In addition to health, it turns out that the use of freon also has a negative impact on the environment or nature. Then what are the bad effects of freon on the environment.

Bad effects of Freon on the environment

Around 1970, scientists discovered that the use of artificial refrigerants (synthetic refrigerants) made from chloroflourcarbons could damage the earth’s ozone layer.

When released into the atmosphere, freon (CFC) will turn into carbon dioxide which will increase the density of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. CFCs also cause depletion of the earth’s ozone layer. So that the sun’s Ultraviolet rays enter the earth directly and increase the earth’s temperature.

Therefore the Indonesian government has reduced or limited the use of CFC freon in stages and has prioritized using Non CFC (HCFC) freon. Because HCFCs pose less risk to the environment.
Besides that, reducing the use of CFCs by the government is also a form of the government’s active role in supporting the prevention of global warming.

The difference between CFCs and HCFCs

Both CFC and HCFC compounds are useful as refrigerants, but CFCs are not suitable for use because of their serious environmental impact on the environment.

The key difference between CFC and HCFC is that CFC contains only carbon, fluorine and chlorine atoms whereas HCFC contains hydrogen atoms in addition to carbon, fluorine and chlorine atoms.

HCFCs have very little impact on the ozone layer because they undergo photochemical decomposition before reaching the upper atmosphere. This is an important difference between CFCs and HCFCs.

But according to Permendag No. 12 of 2020 it is no longer allowed to be imported with the aim of protecting human health, safety, and preventing environmental damage.
Then why are there still CFC and HCFC refrigerants? This is because there is still a lot of old equipment that is still operated or owned by the people of Indonesia.
It can be said that the existence of CFCs and HCFCs is only for spare parts for older models of refrigerators or air conditioners.

How do you distinguish that a refrigeration device, be it an air conditioner, refrigerator, freezer or other refrigeration device, uses CFCs and HCFCs.

The way to tell the difference is very easy, because the Electronic equipment that is Non CFC/HCFC has a logo attached as shown below.
So, if your cooling equipment, whether it’s an air conditioner, refrigerator or other cooling machine, already has this logo, that means it’s non-CFC/HCFC which means it’s environmentally friendly. That means you have participated in helping protect the environment from damage caused by CFC and HCFC freon.
That’s all the discussion about the bad or negative effects of CFC and HCFC freon on health and the environment.

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