Word: aerosol
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...ultraviolet radiation from the sun, protecting humans and other organisms from an overdose of these solar rays. But the layer is fragile, susceptible to a number of chemicals that convert ozone back into ordinary oxygen. According to the U.N. report, the widespread use of fluorocarbons as propellants for aerosol spray deodorants and other products may have already depleted the ozone layer by 1%, and could cut it by as much as 10% by the year 2050 unless the use of fluorocarbons is reduced...
...spray can about to go the way of the giant moa? For the past two years it has seemed so, because evidence has mounted that fluorocarbon, which is used as a propellant in numerous aerosol sprays, is depleting the ozone layer of the earth's atmosphere and increasing worldwide the danger of skin cancer from the sun's radiation. Last week three federal agencies announced a timetable for phasing out fluorocarbons from all "nonessential" uses-including deodorants, hair sprays and perfumes-by the spring...
Almost simultaneously, though, a potential savior of the spray can appeared: none other than Robert Abplanalp, the Yonkers, N.Y., inventor and friend of Richard Nixon who devised the aerosol spray valve in the first place and made millions on his invention. Abplanalp showed off another invention that he claims to have worked out in six months of scrawling on notepads: a valve trade-named Aquasol that uses a mixture of water and butane gas as a propellant. Besides getting rid of the fluorocarbons, Aquasol has another advantage: the butane propellant is not in solution but floats in pressurized form...
Actually, fluorocarbons are now used in only about one-third of the spray cans sold in the U.S. But the controversy over their environmental impact has undermined sales of aerosol products of all sorts. Though many companies are looking into replacement for fluorocarbon gas, until now the only alternatives have been highly combustible gases that are unsuited to certain products, including hair sprays. Fluorocarbons, for all their drawbacks, are not combustible; neither is the butane-water mix in the Aquasol system. Anticipating the federal fluorocarbon ban, Gillette and some other manufacturers last year began switching to pump-action containers...
...long as possible at speeds under 50 m.p.h.; when the car is in high gear, the generator does not produce enough energy to beef up the down-drawn cells. Never try to start the car when any accessories -heater, radio, windshield wipers-are turned on. Keep an aerosol can of ether in the car. You may not have to use it to fight off bears or buffaloes, but it can be a useful way to whiff alive a cold, dank motor...