Car exhaust gets another indictment.Car exhaust gets another indictment Among the pollutants belched into the air by gasoline-powered vehicles are multi-ring chemicals known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In recent years, scientists have been finding nitrogen-containing versions of these on organic particles collected from the atmosphere. In the Feb. 3 JOURNAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY The Journal of Organic Chemistry (abbreviated as J. Org. Chem. or JOC) is a scientific journal for original contributions of fundamental research in organic and bioorganic chemistry. It is published by the American Chemical Society. , chemist William A. Pryor and his colleagues at Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, generally known as Louisiana State University or LSU, is a public, coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the main campus of the Louisiana State University System. in Baton Rouge report a possible connection between these two observations. The researchers discovered that naphthalene naphthalene (năf`thəlēn'), colorless, crystalline, solid aromatic hydrocarbon with a pungent odor. It melts at 80°C;, boils at 218°C;, and sublimes upon heating. -- a two-ring PAH PAH, PAHA aminohippuric acid. PAH abbr. para-aminohippuric acid PAH 1 Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, see there 2. Pulmonary artery HTN found in exhaust -- can react with nitrogen dioxide, another important air pollutant, via a new mechanism involving unstable molecular fragments, or free radicals. The result is a variety of mutation-producing nitro- and dinitronaphthalenes, identical to those pollutants found on the organic particles. The condition of the laboratory reactions also occur in the atmosphere, the researchers say. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion