Coastal pollution could produce an unhealthy chemical cocktail

The reaction of chemical compounds in the pollution from cities and ships with sea salt aerosols from the ocean could affect air quality in coastal areas where the two meet, according to a research. A team measured high levels of nitryl chloride, an active halogen implicated in ground-level ozone production, in industrially polluted air along the southeast coast of the US, implying that ozone pollution could be particularly high where industrial combustion products meet the ocean, as in many megacities around the world.

James Roberts and colleagues measured unexpectedly high levels of nitryl chloride in ship exhaust plumes along the southeast coast of the US. They show that this chemical compound is produced during the night by the reaction of the nitrogen oxides in polluted air from ships or cities with the chlorine from sea salt. With the help of the morning sunlight, nitryl oxide is rapidly split into a reactive radical that can produce ozone in combination with suitable atmospheric compounds, and nitrogen oxides. (researchsea)
Author contact:

James Roberts (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO, USA)
Tel: +1 303 497 3982, E-mail: James.M.Roberts@noaa.gov