Abstract
The possible impact of chlorine compounds on the Earth's ozone layer has caused concern. Profiles of the anthropogenic halocarbons F-11 (CFC13) and F-12 (CF2Cl2) have already been measured in the stratosphere1–4. Measurements of the vertical distribution of methyl chloride (CH3Cl), the most important natural chlorine-bearing species confirm that chlorine of anthropogenic origin now predominates the stratosphere5,6. More halogen radicals are added through decomposition of various other halocarbons, most of them released by man. We report here the first measurements of vertical profiles of F-13 (CF3Cl), F-14 (CF4), F-113 (C2F3Cl3), F-114 (C2F4Cl2), F-115 (C2F5Cl), F-116 (C2F6), and F-13 B(CF3Br) resulting from gas chromatography–mass spectrometer (GC–MS) analysis of air samples collected cryogenically between 10 and 33 km, at 44° N. Some data for F-22 (CHF2C1), methyl bromide (CH3Br) and methyl chloroform (CH3CC13) also presented are subject to confirmation.
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Fabian, P., Borchers, R., Penkett, S. et al. Halocarbons in the stratosphere. Nature 294, 733–735 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/294733a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/294733a0
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