If you don’t, you should. Refrigerant-grade ammonia is not the “natural” solution it’s marketed to be. In our latest infographic, Do you know where your ammonia refrigerant has been?, we illustrate the dangers of refrigerant-grade ammonia. Here’s a preview: 

• Raw material extraction (i.e., fracking and coal mining) 
• Transformation (i.e., high-energy chemical processing) 
• End-of-life handling (i.e., hazardous waste generating)

But don’t forget: environmental harms are only part of the problem. Ammonia has limited uses in refrigerant applications, too — partly because it’s not the most energy-efficient in some applications, but also because it’s highly toxic. ASHRAE 34 classifies ammonia as a “B2L,” meaning it has a higher toxicity and it has an increasing level of flammability compared to some refrigerants. All that’s to say: refrigerant-grade ammonia, if leaked, is dangerous. 

Want to see more? We’ve mapped it all out for you. 

View our new infographic: Do you know where your ammonia refrigerant has been?