Millions of tons of a class of extremely reactive chemicals called hydrotrioxides can linger in the atmosphere for several hours according to a new study.
The presence of chemicals in Earth's atmosphere means that chemists will have to rethink how they work.
It was thought that hydrotrioxides were too unstable to last long in the air.
The new research shows that hydrotrioxides are a regular product of many chemical reactions, and that they can react with other compounds in the atmosphere.
One of them had a lifetime of at least 20 minutes. That is long enough for them to do things in the atmosphere.
Climate change can be seen from space.
The study on hydrotrioxide formation in the atmosphere was published in the journal Science.
The discovery doesn't mean that something new is happening in the atmosphere, but it does mean that hydrotrioxides have always existed there. This is the first time that the existence of these chemicals has been verified.
The second author of the study said in a statement that they can now show that the compounds form in the atmosphere and that they are formed from nearly all chemical compounds. It's time to put all speculation to rest.
There are hydrogen polyoxides. Water has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
H2O2 is found in hydrogen peroxide, which is used as a bleach or disinfectant. The extra oxygen atom makes many peroxides very dangerous and they are sometimes used in rocket fuels.
In the new tab, there's a question about why Earth has an atmosphere.
The fact that hydrotrioxides have three oxygen atoms attached to each other makes them more reactive than peroxides. They're written in a way that makes sense since R is any of the bonding groups.
While it's known that peroxides can form from chemical reactions in the atmosphere, it wasn't previously known that hydrotrioxides can also form there.
11 million tons of hydrotrioxides form in the atmosphere each year as a result of oxidation of isoprene, a substance produced by many plants and animals.
Around 1% of isoprene released into the atmosphere forms hydrotrioxides, and they are produced from these reactions in very low concentrations, which is only a very faint trace.
The study shows that hydrotrioxides are important in the atmosphere and that they are living long enough to do so.
The University of Copenhagen team studied the theoretical aspects of how hydrotrioxides form while Berndt led the research laboratory experiments at TROPOS.
The ultra-reactive hydrotrioxides were detected using very sensitive mass spectrometry, a technique that can determine the molecule weight of chemicals.
The TROPOS free-jet flow system creates a flow of air that is free of boundaries.
Experiments in an atmospheric chamber were used in the study.
The scientists will investigate how the compounds might affect humanhealth and the environment during the minutes or hours of activity before the compounds break down.
He believes that hydotrioxides will act as an oxidant in the atmosphere.
Aerosols suspended in the atmosphere, such as the ash from volcanic eruptions or the soot from large fires, can be penetrated by hydrotrioxides. Experiments on that are very difficult. A lot to do.
The original article was published on Live Science.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
