• MSDS’s on various refrigerants used in pepper sprays should be closely evaluated because they warn against inhalation and eye or skin contact with these chemicals.
• Dymel-22 has been shown in tests to be combustible at pressure as low as 60 pounds per square inch at ambient temperature when mixed with air. Therefore, given the right circumstances these chemicals may become combustible.
• CFC (chlorofluorocarbons), HCFC or Halon (Dymel or Genetron), Methylene-Chloride, when in contact with lighted cigarettes, open flames and glowing metal surfaces are quickly decomposed, producing highly toxic hydrochloric, hydrofluoric acids, formaldehyde or poisonous carbonyl halide (PHOSGENE COCl2). Phosgene is highly toxic and affects the lower respiratory passages, and at concentrations detectable by odor or irritation, is fatal.
• CFC (chlorofluorocarbons), HCFC or Halon (Dymel or Genetron), and Methylene-Chloride also can affect fertility (Post-Implantation Mortality) or act as a reproductive effector, affecting the embryo or fetus (Fetotoxicity).
• CFC (chlorofluorocarbons) and HCFC or Halon (Dymel or Genetron) are toxic and can be co-carcinogens. Methylene-Chloride is clearly a cancer causing agent. Agencies should be aware that the carrier/propellant should not be listed under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) nor under International Agency for Research on Cancer’s (IARC) as a cancer causing or potential carcinogen agent.
• Because of the differences in characteristics of these nonflammable chemicals, various results can be expected from the OC aerosol. In other words, the exact same OC will not perform the same in all cases because of the differences in TLV, molecular weight and evaporation rate.
• CFC (chlorofluorocarbons), HCFC or Halon (Dymel or Genetron), Methylene-Chloride are not environmentally safe and are listed and/or banned by the Montreal Protocol as ozone depleting substances.
  
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The Montreal Protocol

Environmental impact of CFC’s and HCFC’s

In April of 1989, at the first meeting of parties to the Montreal Protocol, approximately 77 nations concurred with the non-binding document adopted at the Helsinki Declaration which includes a call for a 50% cut in CFC use by 1995, an 85% reduction by 1997, and a total phaseout by the year 2000.

Since the signing of the Montreal Protocol, studies have been released by an international group of over one hundred scientists chaired by NASA, indicating that the atmospheric projection for the protection of the ozone layer which formed the basis for the Protocol could be understatements of risk associated with increasing levels of stratospheric chlorine and bromine. It concluded that stratospheric ozone in the northern mid-latitudes had been depleted by 1.7 to 3 percent between 1969 and 1986, and that the observed changes may be due wholly, or in part, to the increased atmospheric abundance of CFC’s and HCFC’s.

Still more recent findings portray an even graver picture. Data collected from balloon observations in the lower stratosphere indicate a more disturbing loss, a 10% reduction over the middle latitudes of Europe and North America. This figure is consistent with other recent data collected from satellite measurements, thereby indicating that depletion is occurring at a more rapid rate than originally thought. Perhaps even more startling is a reported 3% loss over the equator, an area where depletion is believed to be the least. At one time scientists believed that years of extreme losses were followed by years of less severity, but 1990 data indicate significant losses may occur every year. This loss is cause for concern since any decrease in ozone level translates to increased penetration of harmful ultraviolet rays. In turn, the increase of ultraviolet rays leads to higher incidence of skin cancer and cataracts, damage to the immune system, lower crop yield, and disruption of the aquatic food chain.

Even if the CFC’s and HCFC’s production were to cease immediately, a 97% wintertime reduction of the ozone layer over the Antarctic would continue for up to 100 years because the most common CFC’s and HCFC’s have atmospheric lifetimes of anywhere from 75 to 185 years. Consequently, protecting the ozone layer requires a complete worldwide elimination of CFC’s and HCFC’s (halons).

In May 1990 delegates from 42 nations met to discuss the overall future of the global environment. Here, the nations signed a Declaration of Environmental Independence that addressed ozone depletion and other key environmental issues. More specifically, they adopted the following four point plan for the June 1990 meeting in London:

1. expand coverage to all ozone depleting substances to include methyl chloroform, HCFC’s, and CCl4;
2. accelerate the previously agreed upon reduction schedule for production and use of ozone depleting substances;
3. limit the growth of HCFC’s;
4. Eliminate CFC’s, HCFC’s (halons), CCl4, and methyl chloroform as soon as possible, but no later than January 1, 2000; and

In April of 1991 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Reilly announced that the ozone shield is depleting twice as fast as previously calculated. The recent data suggest that 4 to 5% of the ozone layer over the United States had been destroyed in the past decade. The EPA now estimates that approximately 200,000 more deaths from skin cancer may occur in the United States over the next fifty years. The EPA also projects that twelve million Americans, not 500,000 as previously estimated, will develop skin cancer over this same period.

Decrease in ozone level translates to increased penetration of harmful ultraviolet rays. In turn, the increase of ultraviolet rays leads to higher incidence of skin cancer and cataracts, damage to the immune system, lower crop yield, and disruption of the aquatic food chain. 

Excerpts from "The International Lawyer", Spring 1992, Vol 26, No.1; "Recent Development in the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer".

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