Abstract
The likely impact of fluorocarbons on the Earth's ozone layer has recently been reviewed in two major reports1,2 which, although showing difference of emphasis, both concluded that uncontrolled emissions of F11 (CFCl3) and F12 (CF2Cl2) would lead to a substantial reduction in the level of ozone in the Earth's ozone shield (13–16%). The effect of F11 and F12 on ozone would be considerably reduced if they were removed on a large scale by some mechanism which operated in the troposphere. Such a mechanism has been proposed for F11, which involves conversion to F21 (CHFCl2) on the surface of aerosols suspended in the atmosphere3. Crescentini and Bruner4 have recently reported measurements of the F21 concentration that were of sufficient magnitude to suggest that tropospheric removal of F11 was occurring on a scale greater than stratospheric removal. We report here data which refute this suggestion by showing that the level of F21 in the clean background troposphere is virtually unmeasurable.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Chlorofluorocarbons and their Effects on Stratospheric Ozone (Pollut. Pap. No. 15, HMSO, London, 1979).
Stratospheric Ozone, Depletion by Halocarbons, Chemistry and Transport (National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, 1979).
Ausloos, P., Rebbert, E. R. & Glasgow, L. C. Natn. Bur. Stand. J. Res. 82, 1 (1977).
Crescentini, G. & Bruner, F. Nature 279, 311 (1979).
Rasmussen, R. A. EPA Rep. *R0804033-01 (1976).
Singh, H. B., Salas, L., Shigeishi, H. & Crawford, A. Atmos. Envir. 11, 819 (1977).
Singh, H. B., Salas, L., Shigeishi, H. & Scribner, E. Science 203, 899 (1979).
Glasgow, L. C., Jesson, J. P. & Ward, R. B. Atmos. Envir. 12, 692 (1978).
Rasmussen, R. A., Penkett, S. A. & Prosser, N. Nature 277, 549 (1979).
Rasmussen, R. A. Atmospheric Measurement of CHFCL2 (F21, Final Rep. No. 78-60, Chemical Manufacturers Association, London, 1979).
Singh, H.B., Salas, L.J., Shigeishi, H. & Smith, A.H. Fate of Halogenated Compounds in the Atmosphere Interim Rep. No. PB 278-198 to EPA, 19 (1978).
Bruner, F., Bertoni, G. & Crescentini, G. J. Chromatogr. 167, 399 (1978).
DeMore, W. B. Chemical Kinetics and Photochemical Data for Use in Stratospheric Modelling Evaluation Numbers (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, 1979).
Volz, A., Ehhalt, D. H., Derwent, R. G. & Khedim, A. Ber. der Kernforsch. No. 1604, (1979).
Derwent, R. G. & Eggleton, A. E. J. Harwell Rep. AERER 9112 (HMSO, London, 1978).
Stoiber, R.E., Leggett, D.C., Jenkins, T.F., Murrmann, R. P. & Rose, W.I. Bull. geol. Soc. Am. 82, 2299 (1971).
Graedel, T.E. Chemical Compounds in the Atmosphere (Academic, New York, 1978).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Penkett, S., Prosser, N., Rasmussen, R. et al. Measurements of CHFCl2 in background tropospheric air. Nature 286, 793–795 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/286793a0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/286793a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
