DuPont issues statement over reefer incidents

REFRIGERANT manufacturer DuPont has issued a statement to customers following the recent reefer explosions and revelations by ACR News that methyl chloride was one of the constituents in the contaminated refrigerant thought to have been responsible.

The statement from Jane Austin, DuPont Fluorochemicals global business director is as follows

DuPont Statement - Shipping Container Incidents

DuPont recently became aware that during the past year, there have been three explosions involving refrigerated shipping containers, and that two of these incidents resulted in fatalities. DuPont expresses its condolences to the victims' families for the loss of life resulting from these incidents. To our knowledge, the cause of these unfortunate incidents has not yet been determined. DuPont has no information that would indicate that DuPont products were involved in any of these incidents.

One of the primary refrigerants used in refrigerated shipping containers is R-134a, which is manufactured by DuPont and other companies. R-134a is a refrigerant that was introduced in the early 1990s and is used in a range of applications. It has been extensively tested for both performance and compatibility with various materials, and has been demonstrated to be safe for its intended uses in refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

R-134a has been the subject of counterfeiting by unscrupulous suppliers who pass off other products for R-134a to unsuspecting users. DuPont has an active program in place to enforce the proper use of its trademark and trade name in this market and to bring counterfeiters to justice. At this point, we do not know the composition of the refrigerant used in the refrigerated shipping containers mentioned above at the time of the explosions.

DuPont is a leader in supplying refrigerants that meet high standards for quality. Freon® and Suva® are registered trademarks owned by DuPont, and are among the trademarks used by the company to market its branded refrigerant products. Neither the Suva® nor Freon® trademarks should be used in reference to refrigerants or blends that are not made by DuPont.