Observation of Road Salt Aerosol Driving Inland Wintertime Atmospheric Chlorine Chemistry.

ABSTRACT: Inland sources of particulate chloride for atmospheric nitryl chloride (ClNO2) formation remain unknown and unquantified, hindering air quality assessments. Globally each winter, tens of millions of tons of road salt are spread on roadways for deicing. Here, we identify road salt aerosol as the primary chloride aerosol source, accounting for 80-100% of ClNO2 formation, at an inland urban area in the wintertime. This study provides experimental evidence of the connection between road salt and air quality through the production of this important reservoir for nitrogen oxides and chlorine radicals, which significantly impact atmospheric composition and pollutant fates. A numerical model was employed to quantify the contributions of chloride sources to ClNO2 production. The traditional method

SUBMITTER: McNamara SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7256959 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature