[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 42 (Monday, March 17, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NO CFCs FOR 25 YEARS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DAVID DREIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 17, 2003

  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate this Saint Patrick's Day and 
all that is green, I would like to point to another important ``green'' 
milestone associated with March 17. Twenty-five years ago, on March 17, 
1978, the Environmental Protection Agency promulgated regulations 
prohibiting the further use of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) propellants 
from almost all aerosol products manufactured and sold in the United 
States. Even before that date, many U.S. manufacturers of aerosols 
voluntarily removed CFCs in response to environmental concerns linking 
CFCs to the depletion of the earth's protective ozone layer.
  Today, CFCs are used in only very rare and special circumstances, 
such as for medical uses like asthma inhalers, and even many of these 
``essential uses'' are switching to non-CFC alternatives. Under the 
Montreal Protocol, more than 160 countries joined the United States and 
agreed to cease production of CFCs except for medical products.
  When environmental concerns over the impact of CFCs on the ozone 
first arose, producers undertook the extremely difficult and costly 
task of reformulating and retesting hundreds of products in order to 
assure that the new propellants would perform as well as CFC 
propellants had. But importantly, the U.S. aerosol industry not only 
complied with the 1978 regulation, it in fact led the way for the rest 
of the world.
  Unfortunately though, public perception has not caught up with 
reality. Public opinion polls, taken as recently as last year, have 
found that nearly half of all consumers--48%--are still unaware of the 
25-year-old regulations that prohibit the use of CFCs in aerosols. This 
has often led consumers, unaware that aerosols cause no harm to the 
Earth's protective ozone layer, to bypass today's environmentally safe 
aerosol products.
  Research has shown that consumers are still being influenced by 
incorrect information regarding the environmental impact of aerosols 
and many are avoiding them as a result. This is unfortunate because 
there are a number of inherent benefits to be gained from the aerosol 
delivery system, such as the consistency of an aerosol spray which 
minimizes waste.
  Shaving cream, hair spray, spray paint, bug spray, fragrant body 
sprays, spray starch, and aerosol air fresheners, just to mention a 
few, are all aerosol products. And like all aerosol products, these do 
not contain CFCs. In addition to being CFC free, most aerosol packages 
are made of steel which, when empty, are also recyclable in many 
communities.
  The companies in the aerosol industry have worked hard to produce 
products that are efficacious and environmentally sound. In other 
words, they work, and they don't harm the Earth's protective ozone 
layer. The more than 100,000 Americans directly employed in the aerosol 
industry are proud of their companies and their products, and rightly 
so.
  March 17 will always be a day when we associate the color green with 
St. Patrick's Day. but it should also be a date that reminds us that 
U.S.-produced aerosols have been CFC free and environmentally friendly 
since 1978.

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