HFOs and TFA

KNOW THE FACTS
Trifluoroacetic acid, or TFA, is a naturally occurring organicacid with a similar structure to acetic acid (e.g., vinegar).

95
MORE THAN%

5% MANMADEManufacturing: Used as an intermediate in many chemical
processes, including pharmaceutical production 6Agriculture: From breakdown of specific fertilizers andherbicides 7
Sewage treatment: Formed during the breakdown andozonation of some effluents 8

NATURALLY
1, 2
OCCURRING

Refrigerants: From atmospheric decomposition of certain
refrigerants, including HFC-134a and HFO-1234yf 9

From volcanic activity, emitted by deep-sea vents>200 million tons found in the world’s oceans 3, 4, 5

Proper handling of refrigerants, e.g., responsible recovery, recycling,and reclamation, as well as routine system inspection, reduces thelikelihood and potential magnitude of leakage and emissions.

Does manmade TFA harm the environmentor human health?
Numerous independent studies conducted over the
past two decades have concluded that TFA frommanmade sources DOES NOT pose a risk to theenvironment or human health. 10, 11, 12, 13
In fact, research has demonstrated that, even if you multiplied today’senvironmental TFA levels by 1,000x, they would STILL NOT adversely
affect humans, other mammals, or the environment. 14

Will future HFO refrigerant use
significantly increase the amountof TFA in the environment?

If all the AC units in all the world's cars were equipped with

HFO-1234YF, it would

only increase the amount ofTFA in the world’s oceans by0.04”TFA DOES NOT bioaccumulate nor is it toxic at the low tomoderate exposures currently measured in the environment or
those predicted in the distant future.”– UNEP 2022 Assessment Report of the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel%15

The Environmental Benefits of HFO-1234yf

HFO-1234YF REFRIGERANT
is a high-performing, non-ozone depletingalternative to legacy refrigerants, with a

99%REDUCTION

in global warming potential (GWP).

When HFO-1234yf is combined withother components, the resulting
lower-GWP blends are suitable for arange of cooling and refrigeration
applications, and enable excellent systemenergy performance—maximizing thebenefit to the environment while
minimizing life cycle cost.

Opteon™ XL refrigerants forcommercial applications, which include
HFO-1234yf, deliver a significantly
lower climate-change impact thanother alternative technologies, including
CO2 and hydrocarbons.16

CO2By 2025, the global use of Opteon™
refrigerants is expected to haveeliminated an estimated325

MILLION TONS OF
CO2 EQUIVALENT=That’s equal to thegreenhouse gas emissions produced by

193 MILLION

transatlantic flights 17

Our Commitment
Chemours stands behind the safety and sustainability of our products, and we have confidence in the long-term
viability of our Opteon™ HFO refrigerants product portfolio. Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a key
component of our Corporate Responsibility Commitment. We've set a goal of achieving net-zero operations by2050, in part by offsetting our direct and indirect GHG emissions with the emissions avoided by using our products,including Opteon™ refrigerants.
For more information, visit opteon.com.

”Lindley, A. (2023) An Inventory of Fluorspar Production, Industrial Use, and Emissions of Trifluoroacetic Acid (TFA) in the Period 1930 to 1999. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 11, 1-16.
doi: 10.4236/gep.2023.113001.

12”Environmental Effects of Ozone Depletion and Its Interactions with Climate Change: 2014 Assessment,” co-chairs Bornman, J.F, Paul, N., and Shao, M., UNEP, January 2015.

3Scott B.F., et al., “Haloacetic Acids in the Freshwater and Marine Environment,” First International Symposium on Atmospheric Reactive Substances, 14-16 April 1999, Bayreuth, Germany.

4Von Sydow L., et al., “Natural background levels of trifluoroacetate in rain and snow,” Environmental Science & Technology, 34, 3115-3118, 2000.

5Frank H., et al., “Trifluoroacetate in Ocean Waters,” Environmental Science & Technology, 36, 12-15, 2002.

6, 7, 89Bavarian State Office for the Environment, “F-Gases and Water Protection: Trifluoroacetic Acid (TFA),” presentation from conference, "The Way to Natural Refrigerant Technologies," WWA Nuremberg, 2019.

“EFCTC Special Review: Understanding TFA,” European Fluorocarbons Technical Committee, 2016.

10Boutonnet J.C., et al., “Environmental Risk Assessment of Trifluoroacetic Acid,” Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 5(1), 59-124, 1999.

Solomon K.R., et al., “Sources, fates, toxicity, and risks of trifluoroacetic acid and its salts: Relevance to substances regulated under the Montreal and Kyoto Protocols,” Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health,19, 289–304, 2016.

1112”Environmental Effects of Ozone Depletion and Its Interactions with Climate Change: 2022 Assessment Report,” UNEP, March 2023.

13

DeKant W. and DeKant R., “Mammalian toxicity of trifluoroacetate and assessment of human health risks due to environmental exposures,” Archives of Toxicology (2023) 97:1069–1077.

14”EFCTC Special Review: Understanding TFA,” European Fluorocarbons Technical Committee, 2016.

15Henne S., et al., “Future Emissions and Atmospheric Fate of HFC-1234yf from Mobile Air Conditioners in Europe,” Environmental Science & Technology 46 (3):1650-8 (2012).

16“The Path to Reducing Climate Change Emissions from Commercial Refrigeration Application,” Chemours white paper, featuring results of a third-party study conducted by WAVE Refrigeration.

17

CO2 Calculator, German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt), www.umweltbundesamt.de (Figure based on one-way flight between London Heathrow and New York JFK.)

The information set forth herein is furnished free of charge and based on technical data that Chemours believes to be reliable. Chemours makes no warranties, express or implied, and assumes noliability in connection with any use of this information. Nothing herein is to be taken as a license to operate under or a recommendation to infringe any patents or patent applications.
©2024 The Chemours Company FC, LLC. Opteon™ and any associated logos are trademarks or copyrights of The Chemours Company FC, LLC. Chemours™ and the Chemours Logo are trademarks ofThe Chemours Company.
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