Scientists Are Warning of A Brand-New Kind of #AcidRain

Story by Darren Orf

Key points:
- While acid rain caused by sulfur dioxide is an environmental threat of the past (at least, for now), a new kind of acid is proliferating in rain water—as well as groundwater, ice cores, and even human blood.
- #TrifluoroaceticAcid (#TFA) is a subclass of “#ForeverChemical” that’s been steadily increasing in concentrations around the world.
- With calls to consider this rise in TFA a planetary threat, some governments are starting ban chemicals linked to TFA—but the threat will require global cooperation.

"Acid rain may have a sequel, and like most sequels, it’s arguably worse.

"While the world’s first bout of acid rain (at least, in modern times) came from increased concentrations of sulfuric acid produced largely from coal plants, this new #anthropogenic source is possibly more pervasive, more persistent, and more sinister. Its name is Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), a kind of 'forever chemical' that, for decades, has been steadily increasing in #RainWater—but not just rain water.

"Countries around the world have found increasing concentrations in #groundwater, #ArcticIceCores, #wine, and even #HumanBlood. In fact, TFA is likely the most pervasive form of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl (#PFAS)—technically, a subclass known as ultrashort-chain perfluoroalkyl acid (#PFAA)—on Earth due in part to the fact that longer-chain PFAS degrade into TFA via #incinerators or #SewageTreatment plants. They’re also used in #refrigerants instead of #chlorofluorocarbons and #hydrochlorofluorocarbons, which were famously known to deplete the Earth’s #OzoneLayer.

"In October of 2024, a team of European environmental scientists raised the TFA alarm, stating that a rise in concentration could be considered a threat to '#PlanetaryBoundaries' — a system designed to make sure the planet remains #habitable for human life (which we are doing a real bang-up job at following).

" 'Since the 1990s, it has been suggested that hazard-related concerns of TFA and other short-chain PFAAs are much lower than those of PFAAs with longer perfluoroalkyl chains, which are more #bioaccumulative and generally more #toxic,' the authors wrote back in October. 'However, these early reports did not consider TFA’s ubiquitous accumulation in the environment, in particular its observed accumulation in water resources and #bioaccumulation in various plants, including crops.'

"One of the most dangerous things about PFAAs is what we don’t know about them. Unlike other PFAS (of which there are, sadly, thousands of different kinds), TFA is so small (a.k.a. ultrashort) that it’s water-soluble, meaning it likely passes through the human body pretty quickly. A new Nature article reports that some scientists find this evidence compelling enough to not even consider TFA a kind of PFAS, but a growing chorus of voices are raising concerns that increased concentrations of TFA in water and food sources could render TFA’s fast-moving nature a moot point.

"In fact, TFA’s water-solubility could be a long-term headache. If scientists and governments eventually decide that TFA does need to be removed from drinking water and other sources, current filtration technologies are not up to the task. In other words, ridding the world of TFA will not only be immensely difficult, it’ll also be incredibly expensive. Current regulations to eliminate certain forms of PFAS are already proving to be fiscally onerous.

"Thankfully, some governments are taking action. #Denmark, for example, banned 23 substances earlier this month known to contain PFAS that contribute to rising TFA concentrations. Meanwhile, the #US is lagging behind—the Environmental Protection Agency [#EPA] doesn’t even define TFA as a 'forever chemical,' much to the dismay of #environmentalist groups and to the merriment of many #industry leaders.

"Rising concentrations of TFA is the acid rain sequel no one wanted. But just like every terrible sequel ever made, it seems like we’re getting it anyway."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/scientists-are-warning-of-a-brand-new-kind-of-acid-rain/ar-AA1JhZaP?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=1f43e3736065441889cbebfb22a4eb74&ei=10

#WaterIsLife #Dupont #DowChemical #3M #ForeverChemicals #EPACuts #Deregulation #TrumpSucks #USPol #WorldPol #Environment #EnvironmentalDamage #GenXChemicals #3MLied

There's a natural variation in ozone in the atmosphere, but CFCs and other substances were reducing ozone levels and expanding the seasonal ozone holes over the poles. The problem was real and it was getting worse, because CFCs were produced for a reason: It was really useful and cost-effective stuff.

Banning ozone-depleting substances for use as coolants, fire supressants, aerosol propellants and other applications was very successful, and after four decades we are now more than halfway to recovering to natural ozone levels.

A few years ago there was briefly some illegal production of CFCs, which halted the recovery, but it was tracked down and halted, and we are back on track.

nasa.gov/missions/aura/nasa-st…

bbc.com/news/science-environme…

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_de…

#OzoneLayer #OzoneDepletion
#OzoneDepletingSubstances #ODSes
#chlorofluorocarbons #CFCs

"A Mysterious Rise in Banned Chemicals Is Warming the Planet

A new study documents the mysterious presence of five banned chlorofluorocarbons, chemicals that not only deplete the ozone layer but also contribute to global warming

Five ozone-depleting substances are increasing in the atmosphere, a new study finds, despite an international ban on their use and production.

The discovery has mystified scientists and alarmed them because the substances are warming the planet. Their climate impact is equivalent to the carbon emissions from a small country.

“We don’t really know where it’s coming from, and that’s really a bit scary,” said study co-author Stefan Reimann, a scientist with the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, at a news conference on Monday."

#chlorofluorocarbons #OzoneLayer #GlobalWarming

🔗: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-mysterious-rise-in-banned-chemicals-is-warming-the-planet/

Australia's Massive Wildfires Shredded the Ozone Layer--Now Scientists Know Why

Massive wildfires that raged across southeast Australia in 2019–20 unleashed chemicals that chewed through the ozone layer, expanding and prolonging the ozone hole.

A study, published today in Nature, describes how smoke combined with chlorine-containing molecules in the stratosphere — remnants of chemicals that are now banned — to cause the destruction.

The Australian fires produced the largest smoke plume on record, releasing roughly one million tonnes of smoke to heights of up to 30 kilometers.

That’s well into the stratosphere, the portion of the atmosphere that contains the ozone layer, which protects Earth from harmful ultraviolet rays, says study co-author Kane Stone, an atmospheric chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge.

In the months after the wildfires, the hole in the ozone layer, which appears annually over Antarctica, was larger and lasted longer than in previous years.

About 80% of the chlorine in the atmosphere is a legacy of #chlorofluorocarbons, chemicals used in aerosol sprays and as refrigerants starting in the 1930s.

Their use has mostly been phased out since an international treaty was implemented in 1987. Remnant chlorine is bound up as #hydrochloric #acid and #chlorine #nitrate, which are harmless to the ozone layer.

But when #hydrochloric #acid dissolves in #water droplets, it forms reactive ozone-depleting molecules.

That doesn’t usually happen away from the poles, because the air is too #warm, says Stone.

The team used a computer model to predict how various organic acids contained in smoke particles would alter the solubility of hydrochloric acid.

The changes produced in the simulations mirrored the changes to stratospheric chemistry that were observed after the fires.

Solomon says that #hydrochloric #acid latches onto the #surface of the #smoke #particles and reacts with other molecules to produce #molecular #chlorine, which is broken down in sunlight to highly reactive ‘ozone-eating’ chlorine #ions.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00687-w

#EnvironmentScienceNews
The #UN 🌎 🌐 has announced that the #chlorofluorocarbons #CFC caused hole in our ozone layer has finally begun to heal‼️ They estimate it should be closed in 2066.

#GoodNewsForNature
https://phys.org/news/2023-01-ozone-layer-hole.html

This was a huge international feat and proves that the planet can come together to fix our mistakes. Here are the details how our planet did it.

#WinWinForNature 🙌
https://phys.org/news/2023-01-ozone-layer-slowly-hole.html