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"Aside from its immense environmental impacts, R12, like most chlorofluoroalkanes, forms phosgene gas when exposed to a naked flame." "Phosgene is extremely po
by pajko 4y ago
"Aside from its immense environmental impacts, R12, like most chlorofluoroalkanes, forms phosgene gas when exposed to a naked flame."
"Phosgene is extremely poisonous and was used as a chemical weapon during World War I, where it was responsible for 85,000 deaths."
Sounds cool.
- userbinator 4y agoIn general, the more inert a chemical is under ordinary conditions, the more reactive it becomes when it's eventually forced to react. For a very long time, a "halide torch" was the commonly used method of detecting refrigerant leaks, based on the change of colour of a flame. The amount of phosgene produced must've been tiny, or that method would've quickly fallen out of use.