Atmospheric Oxidation of Methyl Chloride Methylene Chloride, and Chloroform

Abstract

Chlorinated atmospheric pollutants are presently receiving much attention because of expected chlorine-ozone interactions in the stratosphere.^1,2 The fully halogenated pollutants,such as CCI₃F, CCl₂F₂, and CCl₄, have no known removal processes that operate in the troposphere. These compounds are accumulating on a global scale, their atmospheric mixing ratios having reached about 2 X 10^-10 for CCl₂F₂,1.2 X 10^-10 for CCl₃F, and 9 X 10^-11 for CCl4.^3-5