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The stratospheric ozone layer exists at a distance of 15 to 40 km from the earth's surface. Man-made chlorinated and brominated compounds such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) and bromofluorocarbons (halons) are the main cause of its damage. Other compounds with ozone depletion potential (ODP) are tetrachlorohydrocarbons, trichloroethane, bromochlorofluorocarbons and bromofluorocarbons, methyl bromide and bromochloromethane.
The ozone layer acts as an invisible shield. The ozone layer absorbs most of the harmful ultraviolet radiation (UV-B) from the sun.
Due to the depletion of the ozone layer more UV-B radiation reaches the earth's surface. As a consequence people may suffer from e.g. more melanoma and more eye cataracts. Furthermore weakened immune systems and a destruction of ecosystems are possible.
As a result of the Montreal Protocol a recovery of the ozone layer over the Antarctic has been observed. For the first time scientists have found a significant statistical evidence for a turning point PDF / 887 KB in the previously reported UV-B trends over Canada, Europe and Japan. Even so WMO and UNEP concluded in 2006 that regaining the pre-1980s ozone levels over the Antarctic can be achieved no earlier than 2065.
The ozone layer is also thinner over the Arctic, and thus the European continent, than it was 40 years ago. Between 1968 and 1992 the loss was on an average of 3% per decade. Since the end of the 1970s the loss has grown and at the moment it is up to be 5% per decade.
The ozone layer over Europe is thinner than it was twenty years ago, with depletion of up to 50% observed during some of the 1990s winters. Scientists registered especially low ozone concentrations over the Arctic in early 2011, caused in part by the unusually long cold periods over the Arctic (Nature Vol.478, 469-475). In December 2011 researchers were able for the first time to take samples of polar stratospheric clouds during research flights which are designed to help gain a better understanding of ozone depletion.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer PDF / 6.24 MB, is the most important international instrument for the protection of the ozone layer.
The Montreal Protocol was signed by 24 countries and the EC Commission in September 1987. Upon ratification in November 1988 its declared obligations to reduce pollution became legally binding in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Montreal Protocol signalled the worldwide phase-out of the production and use of CFCs.
By the end of 2011 the Protocol had been ratified by 197 contracts to the party, who had also reduced the production volume of ozone-depleting substances by 95% over 1987 levels.
The German Ordinance on Substances that deplete the Ozone Layer entered into force in May 1991. At the time, this ordinance’s provisions were significantly more stringent than those in the Montreal Protocol.
Regulation (EC) Nr. 1005/2009 PDF / 938 KB of the European Parliament and Council of 16 September 2009 on substances that deplete the ozone layer entered into force on 1 January 2010. It replaces Regulation (EC) Nr. 2037/2000 of 29 June 2000. The EC Regulation requires no transposition into German law and takes effect immediately. As concerns CFCs and HCFCs, the requirements laid down in Regulation Nr. 1005/2009 are now in part more far-reaching than German law had prescribed. The regulation is amended by Commission Regulation (EC) 744/2010 PDF / 568 KB with regard to the critical uses of halons, and by Regulation (EC) 291/2011 on essential uses of controlled substances other than hydrochlorofluorocarbons for laboratory and analytical purposes.
The Ozone Layer Chemicals Ordinance (Chemikalien-Ozonschichtverordnung) PDF / 80 KB replaced the German CFC Prohibition Ordinance on 1 December 2006 so as to align national regulations with EC Regulation 2037/2000 and avoid duality of regimes. It also extended provisions governing operation, maintenance, decommissioning, and disposal. The purpose of the regulations on expertise in handling these substances is to minimize the emissions of ozone-depleting substances. See here for a list of competent authorities PDF / 39 KB) for the recognition of further education training courses as per Article 5 Para. 2 Nr.1. An adaptation of the national ordinance to the Services Directive was made in 2010.
Halons are bromine-containing organic compounds derived from methane and ethane. Halons have been used as the extinguishing agent in hand fire extinguishers (e.g. in automobiles) and stationary systems. Halons are among the gases that deplete the ozone layer. There ozone depletion potential exceeds the ODP of Chlorofluorocarbons by the factor 1 to 10.. Halon production has been subject to a worldwide ban since 1 January 1994, with a grace period granted to developing countries. The ban on hydrobromofluorocarbons (HBFC) took effect on 1 January 1996.
Halons may only be used in certain applications in Germany that are considered critical and are listed and authorized in Regulation (EC) 744/2010 PDF / 568 KB.
A study commissioned by the Federal Environment Agency (Substitution bestimmter umweltschädlicher Feuerlöschmittel in ausgewählten Anwendungsbereichen) evaluated halon applications that were still in practice in 2002. The researchers concluded that halons can be substituted by alternative extinguishing agents in virtually all applications. Examples of alternative extinguishing techniques can be found in a factsheet PDF / 1.13 MB and in the report ”Avoiding Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases”.
Applications as defined in the regulations above include the mere presence of a fire extinguisher as an emergency precaution and does not assume its actual use. Since 1993 all halon-filled fire extinguisher units and systems which were not granted exemption by special permission had to be dismantled and disposed. This regulation also applied to all devices in private ownership. Halons can be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way through incineration at very high temperatures.
CFCs were once in widespread use for many applications on account of their technical properties as well as their non-flammability. A few other ozone-depleting substances such as carbon tetrachloride were used in special applications, e.g. in laboratories.
Upon determination of the ozone-depleting potential of these substances, the search began for possible substitutes. Finding substitute substances to fulfil the purposes that CFCs or halons had served initially concentrated on chemicals with very similar properties. As a first step, therefore, HCFCs were tested and often used as a substitute. HCFCs have a lower, yet traceable ozone depleting potential. The next phase of development led to chlorine-free alternatives, namely fluorinated or partly fluorinated hydrocarbons. Since these chemicals are free of chlorine or bromine they do not deplete the ozone layer. However, they are potent greenhouse gases. While focussing on ozone-depletion first, today substitutes are subject to more criteria. These criteria issue from commitments laid down in the Kyoto Protocol and in Regulation (EC) 842/2006 governing certain fluorinated greenhouse gases. The new goal of also reducing emissions of fluorinated gases has once again propelled the search for halogen-free alternatives. Initially these substances were met with little acceptance on grounds of their sometimes higher levels of toxicity and flammability. In few cases they did not meet certain technical standards in the beginning. They nevertheless stayed on the market due to improvements and introduction of new techniques and safety measures.
There are many halogen-free alternatives in use in numerous areas nowadays, for example as solvents and detergents, as fire extinguishing agents, as refrigerants, and in the manufacture of foams. Efforts to globally limit the production and use of ozone-depleting substances are ongoing, and Germany continues to assume a pioneering role in this regard. The use of methyl bromide for the fumigation of grain mills has been banned since early 2005; the use of CFCs in asthma sprays was banned on 1 January 2006 as it has been replaced by substitute substances.
The Montreal accords of 1997 agreed on a worldwide gradual phase-out of methyl bromide production by 1 January 2005. These regulations were transposed into law in the EU Member States by Regulation (EC) Nr. 2037/2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer. Regulation (EC) 2037/2000 was amended by Regulation (EC) 1005/2009 PDF / 938 KB in 2009, which stipulates that methyl bromide may henceforth only be produced, marketed and used in case of emergency and upon approval by the European Commission.