A Short History of Halon Fire Suppression Systems
When halon 1301 came on the market in the 1960s it was rightly
seen as the most effective gaseous fire fighting agent ever
developed. It found widespread application in the protection
of data processing rooms, telecommunications switches, art
and historical collections, process control rooms, and many
others. However, by the late 1980s a great deal of scientific
evidence indicated that the agent was an ozone depleting chemical
and the Montreal Protocol of 1987 required a phaseout of new
production. The fire protection industry began the search
for halon alternatives. Current regulations on can be monitored
at the HARC website: http://www.harc.org/, or at the EPA website:
Current Status of Halon 1301 Systems
If you have halon systems currently installed in your company
facilities and they are located in the United States, you
need to know the following facts:
You are under no legal obligation to remove systems from
service.
There is no federal legal requirement to remove systems
from service by any specific date.
You may legally recharge your system in the event of a discharge
Recycled agent is still commonly available for fire system
recharge.
No new agent 1301 is being manufactured
You should plan the replacement of your systems with a halon
alternative.
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