Safety research of mildly flammable refrigerants and risk assessment in Japan.

In 2011, a new project sponsored by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization on the performance and safety of new refrigerants was started. The Japan Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Industry Association initiated a risk assessment of mildly flammable refrigerants at the same time. The Japan Society of Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers established a research committee comprising persons from industry, the government, and academia for the purpose of exchanging knowledge about safety issues and risk assessments among researchers and manufacturers. In order to reduce the legal regulations, a risk assessment of mildly flammable refrigerants was conducted, and reasonable guidelines for safe design and use of refrigerating and air-conditioning equipment with mildly flammable refrigerants were formulated.