Request for Question Clarification by
pafalafa-ga
on
17 Jul 2003 11:48 PDT
There are government agencies in the US, and elsewhere, that have
prepared fairly comprehensive reports on each of these chemicals.
Although the reports concentrated on potential toxic and environmental
effects of the three chemicals, they also include detailed summaries
of production and use of the chemicals, from both a historical and
current perspective. They also describe the factors influencing the
growth or decline in production.
For instance, one of the reports on chloroform includes the following:
"One U.S. manufacturer began chloroform production in 1903, but
significant commercial production was not reported until 1922 (IARC
1979). Since the early 1980s, chloroform production increased by
20-25%, due primarily to a higher demand for HCFC-22, the major
chemical produced from chloroform. The Montreal Protocol established
goals for phasing out the use of a variety of
ozone depleting chemicals, including most chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
HCFC-22 was one of the few fluorocarbons not restricted by the
international agreement. Chloroform is used in the manufacture of
HCFC-22, and an increase in the production of this refrigerant has led
to a modest increase in the
demand for chloroform (CMR 1989). These increasing trends in U.S.
production, based on information compiled in the trade journal
Chemical & Engineering News for period from 1983 though 1994 (CEN
1995), are summarized in Table 4-l."
If reports like these would be of interest to you, I can certainly
provide links to the most relevant materials as an answer to your
question.
But if this is NOT the type of information you are seeking, please let
me know, in a bit more detail, what it is you actually need, and I'll
see if I can get it for you.
Thanks.
