Mexico Beats Deadline, Stops Using CFCs

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2005/sep/09/090903770.html

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) - Mexico has stopped producing ozone-depleting chemicals four years before a deadline set by an international agreement, the environment secretary announced Friday.

The last chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs - manmade chemicals used in aerosol sprays, refrigerators and air conditioners - were produced last month in this northern industrial city, Environment Secretary Jose Luis Luege Tamargo said.

Scientists have linked the use of CFCs to destruction of the ozone layer.

"Mexico is a pioneer when it comes to protecting the ozone layer, and in the last 15 years has reduced by 90 percent the use of CFCs," said Luege Tamargo, speaking at chemical plant belonging to Cydsa, an industrial group that was the largest producer of CFCs in Latin America.

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