Chlorofluorocarbons do not occur naturally on earth, therefore they are considered to be synthetic chemicals. There is a large variety of chlorofluorocarbons, but they all are made up of different amounts of chlorine, fluorine, and carbon. When chlorofluorocarbons, also known as CFCs, was discovered in 1930 scientist had no clue that they would eventually become a threat to the environment. CFCs became extremely popular in the industrial setting because they were not flammable, toxic or corrosive, and it most valuable property- it did not easily react with other chemicals.
CFCs are used as a coolant in air conditioners and refrigerators. They are also used to clean computer chips, electronic circuit boards, and even to sterilize medical equipment. Chlorofluorocarbons are used as propellants in spray cans. They play a major role in the production of all plastic foam products.
Chlorofluorocarbons rise very slowly into the atmosphere. They have the ability to stay in the troposphere unchanged for seventy to one hundred fifty years. Once CFCs enter the stratosphere, they collide with the ultraviolet radiation released by the sun. The ultraviolet radiation reacts with the CFCs by breaking apart the molecules of CFCs to form chlorine. The chlorine atoms combines with ozone which aids in its depletion. One chlorine atom can destroy 100,000 molecules of ozone.
CFCs also have the ability to absorb ultraviolet radiation released from the sun. One molecule of CFC-11 has the same heat-trapping ability as ten thousand molecules of carbon dioxide. Since CFCs remain in our environment for such a long period of time, they can be extremely detrimental in the greenhouse effect.
Researchers have become concerned about the increases in chlorofluorocarbons, and the other greenhouse gases previously mentioned because they do not absorb infrared radiation with wavelengths between seven and thirteen micrometers. Thus, additional heat energy is trapped in the troposphere that would normally pass through. Therefore, the trapped heat energy lingers in the atmosphere causing the window to become dirty and trap even more heat into the earth’s atmosphere.