New Refrigerants Linked to Liver Damage, Doctors Find

Two industrial refrigerants intended to spare Earth’s ozone layer may be hazardous to humans, a study suggests.

In this week’s edition of the British medical journal the Lancet, scientists report the first confirmed cases of liver damage among workers in Belgium accidentally exposed to HCFC-123 and HCFC-124, two alternatives to the chlorofluorocarbons that were banned by an international treaty in 1990.

Previously, researchers found that laboratory animals exposed to high levels of HCFC-123 developed liver damage, whereas HCFC-124 appeared not to be toxic. The new study, by Belgian and U.S. researchers, appears to show that one or both compounds can be toxic to people.

“This is the first documented example of humans being exposed to these compounds for a considerable length of time,” said co-author Dr. Lance Pohl, a molecular toxicologist at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. He said that HCFC-123 probably caused the damage.

HCFC-123 and HCFC-124--the names are short for “partially halogenated hydrochlorofluorocarbons”--are used in large-scale industrial air-conditioning systems, or “chillers,” in addition to other industrial applications. The chemicals are not used in home or car air-conditioning units or refrigerators, said an Environmental Protection Agency spokesman.

The chemicals were developed to replace so-called CFCs, including Freon, which are believed to be responsible for the thinning of the layer of stratospheric ozone that protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.

The new study stemmed from a 1996 epidemic of liver disease at an unidentified smelting facility in Belgium. Over four months, nine workers at the plant were found to have acute hepatitis. Factory officials investigated and found that a plastic pipe in the plant’s air-conditioning system had leaked, exposing workers to a mixture of HCFC-123 and HCFC-124. After the pipe was repaired, there were no additional outbreaks.

The researchers urged that “very strict measures of containment” be implemented to prevent accidental exposure.

The Washington Post contributed to this story.