EU affirms refrigerant is safe, Daimler still disagrees

R1234yf, the refrigerant jointly developed by Honeywell and Dupont that is being phased in as a replacement for R134a in Europe, is safe. So says a panel of scientists from the Joint Research Council, researching the refrigerant at the request of the European Commission. German automaker Daimler, though, disagrees with the finding, saying R1234yf can be toxic to humans when burned, according to Automotive News.

In case you haven't been following this real-life drama, the old refrigerant was banned in Europe due to environmental risks. Daimler refused to use the replacement refrigerant, prompting a short ban on the sales of Mercedes models in France, saying it was holding out for air conditioning systems that relied on carbon dioxide instead of R1234yf.

Neither side seems ready to concede defeat, Daimler saying in a statement that it believes the tests conducted on the new refrigerant were "too restrictive" and the EU Commission saying that there is "no evidence of a serious risk." The next step? Stay tuned, we suppose...