A program for curbing the use of ozone-depleting substances in the eastern Cuban province of Las Tunas has replaced the contaminating gas freon in 2,100 refrigerators in the first seven months of this year. The refrigerant was replaced by LB-12, a product made in Cuba and improved with Canadian technology. It is harmless to the Earth's atmospheric ozone layer, which protects life from harmful solar rays, Amado Luis, an expert with Las Tunas environmental management agency, told Tierramérica.

Freon is one of the substances responsible for the thinning of the ozone layer over the Earth's poles and its use is to be eradicated by 2010, according to the timeline set by the Montreal Protocol, in force since 1989.

In addition to applying alternative technologies, in Las Tunas and the rest of the Cuban provinces, workshops and conferences are held to promote the use of other substances in refrigeration equipment, said Palma.