Beijing – China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment hasdenied the widespread illegal use of CFC-11 in eastern China, as indicated in a new study published in the journal Nature.
Liu Youbin, the ministry’s spokesperson, cast doubts on the study in a press conference, stating that its evidence is inconclusive, its data is open to other interpretations, and its conclusion is contradictory to the ministry’s own findings.
China is initiating research on mid- to long-term monitoring, forecast and warning and mitigation appraisal of the emission of ozone-depleting substances (ODS), Liu said.
Six new ODS testing laboratories for foam products and blowing agents will be in use by 2020, Liu added. Control over CFC-11 feedstock carbon tetrachloride will also be tightened by installing monitoring devices at related businesses, which is expected to finish by the end of 2019.
At an earlier press conference, Liu had claimed that in a clampdown in August 2018, the ministry examined 1,172 related businesses, and found only 10 makers of polyether systems whose products contained CFC-11.
