Du Pont Will Stop Making Ozone Killer : But Offers No Timetable for Ending Production

Du Pont Co. plans to end production of chlorofluorocarbon compounds, the most potent destroyers of the Earth’s ozone shield, the company said today.

But the company’s chairman, in a letter to several senators, did not say when the production would cease.

Du Pont Chairman Richard E. Heckert told Sen. Robert T. Stafford (R-Vt.) that the company decided on “an orderly transition to the total phase-out” of the compounds following a report last week that they probably were responsible for a 2.3% decline in the thickness of the Earth’s ozone shield from 1969 to 1986.

The ozone shield, generally 15 to 25 miles high, blocks harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun that can cause skin cancer.

Aerosol Use Ended in 1978

The compounds are used for refrigeration fluids, plastic foam blowing agents and cleaning solvents, and aerosol propellants outside the United States.

The United States ended aerosol use in 1978, which caused worldwide production to dip, but production resumed its upward climb in the early 1980s.

In 1985, the nations of the world produced 2.28 billion pounds, about 30% of it in the United States.

The report, by a panel of scientists assembled by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, constitutes “important new information” justifying Du Pont’s reversal of its previous position that an end to CFC production was not justified, Heckert said.

‘Very Responsible Move’

The letter was made available by Stafford’s office. Similar letters were given to Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Dave Durenberger (R-Minn.).

“It’s a very responsible move. Du Pont must now press their industry colleagues” for similar action, Baucus said in a statement.

The three senators challenged Du Pont on Feb. 22 to live up to the company’s mid-1970s pledge that it would end production of CFC compounds if a threat to health were demonstrated. Heckert wrote back on March 4 repeating the pledge but adding, “At the moment, scientific evidence does not point to the need for dramatic CFC emission reductions.”

Today’s letter said that Du Pont was encouraging other producers to “join us in pursuit of this goal,” and that it would “urge all nations to treat this new scientific information seriously.”