Keep Your Cash, Keep Your Cool
With FRIGC FR-12
The only EPA 'SNAP' Approved Alternative to R-12

HOUSTON, January 16,1996 -- Effective January 1, 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) banned the manufacture of R-12, commonly known as Freon, the most widely used vehicle airconditioning refrigerant. So where do consumers turn to keep their vehicles' R-12 systems running? Clyde W.Beahm, group vice president, products marketing for Pennzoil Products Company, says consumers should turn to FRIGC FR-12, the only EPA "SNAP" approved alternative to R-12. SNAP is the acronym for the EPA's Significant New Alternatives Policy.

Pennzoil is the master distributer for FR-12 which is manufactured by InterCool Energy Corporation (ICE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Intermagnetics General Corporation. The distributorship covers territory of North America, including the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"FR-12 is the only cost-effective alternative to R-12," says Beahm. "It provides the same cooling level as R-12 and can be used in any air conditioning system designed for R-12." In new vehicles, the common alternative to R-12 is a product called R-134a. However, most vehicles manufactured before 1992, and many manufactured between 1993 and 1994, were designed for R-12 and cannot use R-134a without being retrofitted which can be costly.

Beahm says the EPA banned R-12 because it contained chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which damage the ozone. "FR-12 refrigerant is a practical, low-cost solution to the environmental problems caused by CFCs," he says, "plus, it's nonflammable and nontoxic."

"American motorists are going to be facing a dilemma," says Beahm. "They will either have to make expensive alterations to their vehicles' air condition systems or find a substitute refrigerant that the EPA deems acceptable. We think that substitute ought to be FR-12, because it's ready to use with only minimal system adaptation, and it has been accepted by the EPA."

For information about FR-12, please call Dale Wells at (713) 546-4839.

Pennzoil Products Co. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Houston-based Pennzoil Company. Pennzoil has been America's number-one selling motor oil for nine consecutive years, and Pennzoil Products Co. is a leader in the production and marketing of specialty petroleum products distributed in more than 50 countries worldwide.