ABSTRACT
Dichlorofluoromethane may be released to the environment during its production, storage, transport, and use as a refrigerant, solvent, aerosol propellent, and fire extinguishing agent. When used for these purposes, dichlorofluoromethane will eventually be lost to the atmosphere unless it is captured and recycled. It is an extremely unreactive gas and losses due to photolysis, photooxidation, hydrolysis, or biodegradation in air, water, and soil will not be significant. If released on land, most of the dichlorofluoromethane will volatilize into the air. It is highly mobile in soil and therefore will have a potential for leaching into ground water. Since dichlorofluoromethane is an inert gas with high vapor pressure at room temperature and has a low adsorption to soil, most of the chemical released on land will be lost by volatilization. In the atmosphere, dichlorofluoromethane is mainly removed by reaction with hydroxyl radicals.
