Researchers report the global abundances and emissions of three ozone-depleting hydrochlorofluorocarbons, one of them recently discovered, all of which are regulated by the Montreal Protocol, and none of which has a known purposeful use; dominant emission sources for two of these compounds were in Asia, and the suggestion that these compounds are emitted as intermediate products in the fluorocarbon industry is supported by the cessation of emissions from southeastern France after closure of a fluorocarbon production facility located there.
Article #20-10914: "Unexpected nascent atmospheric emissions of three ozone-depleting hydrochlorofluorocarbons," by Martin K. Vollmer et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Martin K. Vollmer, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf, SWITZERLAND; tel: +41 76 760 2023; email: < Martin.Vollmer@empa.ch >
###
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences