Is freon a danger to the ozone layer in the stratosphere?

Answer 1

Freon is a brand name, and covers many compounds / molecules that have fluorine bonded into them. Fluorine itself is more powerful than ozone, so the fluorine provides no challenge to ozone in terms of accelerating its decay, or blocking its production. There are several of these molecules that also contain chlorine or bromine, and they *do* provide an accelerated decay path for ozone. These molecules are referred to as CFCs in general. Additionally, some of these molecules contain hydrogen, and this also provides a challenge to ozone. These molecules are referred to as HCFCs, and tend to break up before they make it all the way up to the ozone layer (a trip of many months). So... just being "freon" does not make it a danger to the ozone layer, nor does it prevent it from being a danger to the ozone layer. It depends on the formulation.