The globally recognized ATMO Approved Natural Refrigerants Label has opened registration for 2025 and will include, for the first time, information on the amount of TFA (trifluoroacetic acid) label holders have avoided by placing their natural refrigerant products on the market.
“We’ll be the first to do that with this label,” said Marc Chasserot, CEO and Founder of ATMOsphere, the publisher of NaturalRefrigerants.com. “The model we developed for the 2025 label will quantify both the CO2e emissions and TFA your company has avoided.”
Chasserot made the announcement during the ATMOsphere (ATMO) Europe Summit 2024, organized by ATMOsphere and held November 25–26 in Prague, Czech Republic.
ATMOsphere launched the label in 2022 to recognize the best natural refrigerant companies and products and to help end users find best-in-class natural refrigerant-based manufacturers and contractors to improve HVAC&R system performance and reduce their overall carbon footprint.
The ATMO Approved Natural Refrigerants Label already quantifies the annual amount of avoided lifetime greenhouse gas emissions label holders are responsible for based on the natural refrigerant equipment they put onto the market, with a 20-year GWP measurement used. Chasserot noted that the addition of avoided TFA represents the next evolution of the model underpinning the label.
“There is a lot of data involved in the process, and we’re now on version three of our model, which has been stress-tested by independent consultants,” he said. “We look at things like charges, leakage rates and energy efficiency.”
Chasserot also highlighted the stringent application process, which has seen only 18 applicants out of 83 approved since the label’s launch. In addition, label holders must reapply for the ATMO Approved Natural Refrigerants Label on a yearly basis.
“We want to maintain the label’s quality,” said Chasserot. “We want people to aspire to have this. It’s not something you can just buy.”
Additional information on the 2025 label and the registration form can be found here. Along with manufacturers, contractors are also eligible to apply.
The TFA threat
TFA is considered a PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances), which are also known as “forever chemicals.” One way it’s produced is through the degradation of many f-gases, including HFO-1234yf, which is used in car air-conditioning systems around the world. Although it has a 100-year GWP of less than 1 and a 20-year GWP of 4, 100% of R1234yf degrades to TFA in the atmosphere within a few weeks, with the TFA then entering soil and waterways through rainfall.
TFA has been proliferating in growing amounts throughout the environment in surface water, soil, human blood serum, plants and plant-based foods. While there has been no conclusive link to adverse health effects in humans, this year the German government submitted a proposal to the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) linking TFA to reproductive toxicity based on evidence of embryo-fetal developmental toxicity in rabbits, with TFA having been previously connected to liver dysfunction in rats.
A recent study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology declared TFA a “planetary boundary threat,” with the authors writing, “There are more than sufficient data to conclude that TFA poses a risk to humans and the environment.”
“You’ll be able to quantify both the CO2e emissions and TFA your company has avoided with this label.”
Marc Chasserot, CEO and Founder of ATMOsphere
