The results of a two-year study led by Chet Spicer, a Battelle senior research leader in Atmospheric Science, were published in the Jan. 19 issue of Science. Bob Plastridge, a Battelle research scientist, also participated in the study. "This may be the first time these chemicals (molecular bromine and bromine chloride) have been measured in the atmosphere at ground level," Spicer said. "They're an important link in the ozone depletion process that occurs naturally in the region every year at polar sunrise. After six months of darkness, the sun rises and it starts a series of photochemical reactions that deplete the natural ozone in the lower atmosphere for days and weeks at a time."

Spicer is part of a team that has been using sophisticated mass spectrometry equipment to collect data from Alert, Canada, located about 900 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

It's been suspected that halogens were involved-but this is the first time these specific chemicals have been measured during ozone depletion events. It is believed that sea salt particles are chemically transformed into these gas phase species in the snow, and they then diffuse into the atmosphere.

The implications could be far-reaching. Although it's a totally natural process and may have always occurred, it has only recently been measured, and the chemical processes are not fully understood

"Because the Polar Regions cover a good part of the earth's surface, this phenomenon needs to be included in our thinking and our models of global atmospheric chemistry and global climate change," Spicer said. There also is the possibility that these reactions could be occurring in mid-latitudes near coastal areas and in cities that salt their streets-wherever there is sea salt. "If it is occurring in other parts of the world, it needs to be factored in when we are talking about air quality issues," he said.

This particular study was performed by a group of six researchers including Barbara Finlayson-Pitts and Krishna L. Foster, from the Department of Chemistry at University of California, Irvine; Jan W. Bottenheim, from Environment Canada, Toronto; Paul B. Shepson from the departments of Chemistry and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Purdue University. The study was supported by the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Chemistry Program, with logistical support from the Meteorological Service of Canada.

The study authors are part of a larger group called the Alert 2000 Team, which is made up of scientists from Canada, Italy, Germany and the United States. The group met in Rome recently to discuss their results and begin to interpret the data from the full study.

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