HYDROCHLOROFLUOROCARBON 22 (chlorodifluoromethane)
See the summary at the top of this page. CosIng, Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 (prohibited substances), Consulted on 23 October 2026.
Official label name (INCIInternational name of cosmetic ingredients: the one printed on the pack. name, EU glossary of cosmetic ingredient names), No 12344
Who it concerns
What official classifications and rules say for each group. A classification describes the hazard of the pure substance, not the risk of a product that contains it, which depends on the dose and the exposure.
Prohibition or serious classificationThe text prohibits the substance for this use, or ranks it among the most serious hazards (known or presumed carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic, identified endocrine disruptor).Worth watchingThe text sets a condition or flags a hazard worth knowing: allergen, suspected effect, condition for children, hazard to the aquatic environment.For informationOfficial information with no condition on a finished product: warning to read, irritation of the pure substance.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
No classification harmonised by the European Union covers reproduction, the unborn child or breastfeeding for this substance. This does not mean it has been judged to have no effect during pregnancy.
Babies and children
The Cosmetics Regulation sets no age-related condition for this ingredient.
Skin, eyes and allergies
No harmonised classification for sensitisation, irritation or eye damage, and no obligation to label it as an allergen.
Environment
No harmonised classification as hazardous to the aquatic environment, and no EU act identifies it as an endocrine disruptor for the environment.
Read on the label
The Cosmetics Regulation requires no warning to be printed for this ingredient.
In plain words
What it is used for
Functions declared by manufacturers:
The functions and their explanations appear in the summary.
Functions declared in the CosIngThe European Commission's database of cosmetic ingredients. inventory. CosIng, inventory of cosmetic ingredients (INCI names, CAS, EC, functions), retrieved 21 October 2026.
CosIng, list of cosmetic functions, retrieved 30 October 2026; source text read on 30 October 2026.
What the rules say
No EU rule targets this ingredient specifically. It remains subject to the general rule: every product must undergo a safety assessment before it is sold (Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009), under the manufacturer's responsibility.
See the summary at the top of this page.
What we know about this ingredient
Uses
Chlorodifluoromethane is used primarily as a refrigerant gas, and air-conditioning and refrigeration applications have been reported to account for 75% to over 90% of its use. Such applications include portable air conditioners, central air conditioning, home freezers/refrigerators and automotive air conditioning. Chlorodifluoromethane is also used to produce the fluorocarbon monomer tetrafluoroethylene by pyrolysis at 650-700 °C. The tetrafluoroethylene monomer forms homopolymers or copolymers with other chlorofluorocarbons used in plastics and resins. Unlike other chlorofluorocarbons, chlorodifluoromethane is not currently used to a large degree as a blowing agent for polyurethane resins or as an industrial solvent, but these applications have been reported previously. The azeotropic mixture (F-502) of chlorodifluoromethane/chloropentafluoroethane (F-115) is also used as a refrigerant, primarily in food display cases, ice makers, home freezers and heat pumps.
Refrigerant; low-temperature solvent; fluorocarbon resins, especially tetrafluoroethylene polymers.
PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · IARC. Monographs on the Evaluation of the Carcinogenic Risk of Chemicals to Humans. Geneva: World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 1972-PRESENT. (Multivolume work).; Lewis, R.J. Sr.; Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary 15th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY 2007., p. 280.
Use classification
Cosmetics -> Propellant
Industry uses
Intermediate
Refrigerants
No natural occurrence recorded in Wikidata (LOTUS database); this does not prove that the ingredient is synthetic.
Basis: one CosIng CAS, with no natural occurrence recorded in this database.
Wikidata: names of substances in six languages and taxa in which they occur (largely from the LOTUS database), retrieved 23 October 2026.
Manufacturing
Reaction of chloroform with anhydrous hydrogen fluoride with antimony chloride catalyst.
The most important commercial method for manufacturing CFCs and HCFCs is the successive replacement of chlorine by fluorine using hydrogen fluoride. The traditional, liquid-phase process uses antimony pentafluoride or a mixture of antimony trifluoride and chlorine as catalysts. Continuous vapor-phase processes that employ gaseous hydrogen fluoride in the presence of heterogenous chromium, iron, or fluorinated alumina catalysts also are widely used. Carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, and hexachloroethane (or tetrachloroethylene plus chlorine) are commonly used starting materials for one- and two-carbon chlorofluorocarbons. The extent of chlorine exchange can be controlled by varying the hydrogen fluoride concentration, the contact time, or the reaction temperature. /CFCs and HCFCs/
PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · Lewis, R.J. Sr.; Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary 15th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY 2007., p. 279; Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology. 4th ed. Volumes 1: New York, NY. John Wiley and Sons, 1991-Present., p. V11 507 (1994).
Appearance
Colorless gas ... [Note: Shipped as a liquefied compressed gas]
Chlorodifluoromethane is a colorless gas with an ethereal odor. It is shipped as a liquefied gas under its own vapor pressure. It is noncombustible. It can asphyxiate by the displacement of air. Contact with the liquid can cause frostbite. Toxic gases can be produced in fires involving this material. Exposure of the container to prolonged heat or fire may cause it to rupture violently and rocket.
Liquid
Colorless gas with a faint, sweet odor.
Colorless gas with a faint, sweetish odor. [Note: Shipped as a liquefied compressed gas.]
PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · NIOSH. NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2010-168 (2010). Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg.
PubChem : CAMEO Chemicals · 2026-10-29 · https://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/2889.
PubChem : EPA Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) · 2026-10-29 · https://www.epa.gov/chemical-data-reporting.
PubChem : Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) · 2026-10-29 · https://www.osha.gov/chemicaldata/584.
PubChem : The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) · 2026-10-29 · https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg/npgd0124.html.
Odour described
... Faint, sweetish odor ...
Like carbon tetrachloride
Nearly odorless
PubChem : Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) · 2026-10-29 · NIOSH. NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. Department of Health & Human Services, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health. DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2010-168 (2010). Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/npg; Weiss, G.; Hazardous Chemicals Handbook. 1986, Noyes Data Corporation, Park Ridge, NJ 1986., p. 260; Lewis, R.J. Sr.; Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary 15th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY 2007., p. 279.
Stability
The product is stable.
Other names: Chlorodifluorométhane (French), chlorodifluoromethane (English), Chlordifluormethan (German), R22 (Spanish), monoclorodifluorometano (Italian), clorodifluorometano (Portuguese).
Wikidata: names of substances in six languages and taxa in which they occur (largely from the LOTUS database), retrieved 23 October 2026.
Open Beauty Facts, export of cosmetic products, retrieved 23 October 2026.
Data “Open Beauty Facts and its contributors”, licensed under ODbL 1.0 (opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0); derived table distributed under the same licence.
The text of the annexes
No specific rule of the EU Cosmetics Regulation names this ingredient: it is on none of its lists (prohibited, restricted, colorants, preservatives, UV filters). It may be used under the responsibility of the manufacturer, who must ensure the product is safe.
Search in Annexes II to VI. CosIng, Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 (prohibited substances), retrieved 23 October 2026, source updated 13 October 2026.
Identity
- CosIng identifier
- 34323
- CAS (according to CosIng)
- 75-45-6
- EC (according to CosIng)
- 200-871-9
- Declared functions
- Propellant
- Wikidata
- Q422994
- PubChem
- 6372
- ECHA InfoCard
- 100.000.793
- InChIKey
- VOPWNXZWBYDODV-UHFFFAOYSA-N
CosIng inventory. CosIng, inventory of cosmetic ingredients (INCI names, CAS, EC, functions), retrieved 21 October 2026.
Wikidata, items with a CosIng identifier (P3073), retrieved 22 October 2026.
Wikidata, PubChem and ECHAEuropean Chemicals Agency. links are published only when verified: same CosIng identifier, a single item, matching CAS number.
Elsewhere in the world
Information on other jurisdictions, with no effect on sale in France. What is covered, and what is not yet.
Comparison between countries
Most restrictive status in each country, and the maximum concentration cited. The details and the source of each rule follow.
| Country | Rule | Maximum concentration cited |
|---|---|---|
| European Union | No specific rule in the Cosmetics Regulation | not cited |
| United Kingdom | No specific rule in the Cosmetics Regulation | not cited |
| Switzerland | EU Regulation applies | not cited |
| United States (federal) | No federal rule recorded | not cited |
| Canada | No entry in the lists recorded | not cited |
| Japan | No entry in the lists recorded | not cited |
| South Korea | No entry in the lists recorded | not cited |
| China | Not on the prohibited lists recorded (lists of allowed substances are not recorded) | not cited |
| Australia | No entry in the lists recorded | not cited |
| ASEAN | No entry in the lists recorded | not cited |
| Taiwan | No entry in the lists recorded | not cited |
| Brazil | No entry in the lists recorded | not cited |
United Kingdom (Great Britain)
- No specific rule in the Cosmetics Regulation
Annexes II to VI in force. United Kingdom, Annexes II to VI of Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 as retained and amended, retrieved 21 October 2026.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Northern Ireland applies EU law.
Switzerland
Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 applies in Switzerland (Article 54 of the Ordinance on Foodstuffs and Utility Articles).
Switzerland, FDHA Ordinance on Cosmetic Products (OCos, SR 817.023.31), consolidated version, retrieved 22 October 2026.
United States, federal rules
None of the integrated sections of the federal code (21 CFR 700.11 to 700.27 and 250.250) targets this name. The FDA does not publish a list of allowed ingredients.
United States, 21 CFR part 700 and section 250.250 (FDA rules on cosmetic ingredients), eCFR, retrieved 21 October 2026.
The eCFR is not an official legal edition of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Glossary: Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2025/1175. Page updated on 23 October 2026.