Does toxicity of aromatic pollutants increase under remote atmospheric conditions?
Aromatic compounds contribute significantly to the budget of atmospheric pollutants and represent considerable hazard to living organisms. However, they are only rarely included into atmospheric models which deviate substantially from field measurements. A powerful experimental-simulation tool for the assessment of the impact of low- and semi-volatile aromatic pollutants on the environment due to their atmospheric aqueous phase aging has been developed and introduced for the first time. The case study herein reveals that remote biotopes might be the most damaged by wet urban guaiacol-containing biomass burning aerosols. It is shown that only after the primary pollutant guaiacol has been consumed, its probably most toxic nitroaromatic product is largely formed. Revising the recent understanding of atmospheric aqueous phase chemistry, which is mostly concerned with the radical nitration mechanisms, the observed phenomenon is mainly attributed to the electrophilic nitrogen-containing reactive species. Here, their intriguing role is closely inspected and discussed from the ecological perspective.
Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, SI-1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Ana
A
Kroflič
Laboratory of Catalysis and Chemical Reaction Engineering, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, SI-1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Miha
M
Grilc
Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, SI-1001 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Irena
I
Grgić
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity*; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006139:Guaiacol / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000633:toxicity*; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D008956:Models, Chemical; D026361:Reactive Nitrogen Species / Q000737:chemistry*
D000393:Air Pollutants; D006841:Hydrocarbons, Aromatic; D026361:Reactive Nitrogen Species; D006139:Guaiacol