Home and small commercial installations can use three environmentally preferable hydrocarbons in refrigerators and freezers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided.

Already in use in Europe, U.S. units can now be filled with propane, isobutane and a chemical known as R-441A. They are environmental preferable to chlorofluorocarbons, which in turn were environmental replacements for refrigerants that did more damage to the earth's ozone layer.

EPA said the hydrocarbons can be used in household refrigerators, freezers, combination refrigerator-freezers, and commercial stand-alone units.

The new chemicals for refrigeration use refrigerants "have been on regulatory ice in the U.S. for years due to concerns about flammability, but isobutane and propane are both widely used in home appliances in Europe, where fire-safety measures for technicians are now well established," GreenSource reported.