CFCs black market
international efforts to restore the ozone layer are being threatened by a flourishing black market of chlorofluorocarbons (cfcs), said Paul Frasier, senior principal research scientist with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation of Australia. According to him, the smuggling is being done on a small scale, but it can have a direct impact on the ozone layer's recovery. Fraser's colleague, Julian Newman, identifies China and Russia as the leading suppliers of illegal ozone-depleting substances.
These findings have been published in Atmospheric Environment, an international journal. Fraser says that cheap cfcs smuggled from developing countries accounted for about 10 per cent of global cfc production. A booming black market could delay the recovery of ozone layer."The availability of cheaper cfcs discourages the manufactures to use better alternatives," Fraser said.