Articles | Volume 25, issue 23
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17761-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17761-2025
Research article
 | 
05 Dec 2025
Research article |  | 05 Dec 2025

Impact of leakage during HFC-125 production on the increase in HCFC-123 and HCFC-124 emissions

Luke M. Western, Stephen Bourguet, Molly Crotwell, Lei Hu, Paul B. Krummel, Hélène De Longueville, Alistair J. Manning, Jens Mühle, Dominique Rust, Isaac Vimont, Martin K. Vollmer, Minde An, Jgor Arduini, Andreas Engel, Paul J. Fraser, Anita L. Ganesan, Christina M. Harth, Chris Lunder, Michela Maione, Stephen A. Montzka, David Nance, Simon O'Doherty, Sunyoung Park, Stefan Reimann, Peter K. Salameh, Roland Schmidt, Kieran M. Stanley, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Dickon Young, Matt Rigby, Ronald G. Prinn, and Ray F. Weiss

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Cited articles

Adcock, K. E., Reeves, C. E., Gooch, L. J., Leedham Elvidge, E. C., Ashfold, M. J., Brenninkmeijer, C. A. M., Chou, C., Fraser, P. J., Langenfelds, R. L., Mohd Hanif, N., O'Doherty, S., Oram, D. E., Ou-Yang, C.-F., Phang, S. M., Samah, A. A., Röckmann, T., Sturges, W. T., and Laube, J. C.: Continued increase of CFC-113a (CCl3CF3) mixing ratios in the global atmosphere: emissions, occurrence and potential sources, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 4737–4751, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4737-2018, 2018. a, b, c, d
Archbold, M. E., Elliot, T., and Kalin, R. M.: Carbon Isotopic Fractionation of CFCs during Abiotic and Biotic Degradation, Environmental Science & Technology, 46, 1764–1773, https://doi.org/10.1021/es203386a, 2012. a
Arnold, T., Mühle, J., Salameh, P. K., Harth, C. M., Ivy, D. J., and Weiss, R. F.: Automated Measurement of Nitrogen Trifluoride in Ambient Air, Analytical Chemistry, 84, 4798–4804, https://doi.org/10.1021/ac300373e, 2012. a
Arnold, T., Manning, A. J., Kim, J., Li, S., Webster, H., Thomson, D., Mühle, J., Weiss, R. F., Park, S., and O'Doherty, S.: Inverse modelling of CF4 and NF3 emissions in East Asia, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 13305–13320, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13305-2018, 2018. a
Ashford, P., Clodic, D., McCulloch, A., and Kuijpers, L.: Determination of comparative HCFC and HFC emission profiles for the foam and refrigeration sectors until 2015: Part 3: Total Emissions and Global Atmospheric Concentrations, https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-08/documents/foamemissionprofiles_part3.pdf (last access: 1 December 2025), 2004. a, b, c, d, e
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Short summary
We used atmospheric measurements to estimate emissions of two hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) gases, called HCFC-123 and HCFC-124, that harm the ozone layer. Despite international regulation to stop their production, their emissions have not fallen. This may be linked to how they are used to make other chemicals. Our findings show that some banned substances are still reaching the atmosphere, likely through leaks during chemical production, which could slow the recovery of the ozone layer.
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