How harmful is CFC gases omitted by fridge freezers to humans?
They are not harmful to people per se. CFCs are nontoxic, nonflammable chemicals containing atoms of carbon, chlorine, and fluorine. They are safe to use in most applications and are inert in the lower atmosphere, they do undergo significant reaction in the upper atmosphere or stratosphere. Before this, fridges used toxic gases, ammonia (NH3), methyl chloride (CH3Cl), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), as refrigerants. After a series of fatal accidents in the 1920s when methyl chloride leaked out of refrigerators, a search for a less toxic replacement began.
