This site was revised on
October 25, 2002
Foster Research Group
Projects
Research
The issues our research group is trying to resolve are many, but included are the following questions: Will mineral aerosol scavenge VOCs from the gas phase? Are VOCs oxidized by the mineral surface? Are they dissolved into the thin water film? Will they be oxidized by the aqueous hydrogen peroxide present in the water film? Do they physically adsorb to the aerosol surface only to desorb at a later time? If so, how long will pollutants remain associated with the aerosol particle? Or will the VOC remain associated with the aerosol for an indefinite period of time only to be transported and ultimately deposited into a nearby water supply? These issues are important for air quality models as well as issues of human health and safety. Recent threats of the airborne release of toxic substances by terrorist activities has brought home just how little is known about the fate and transport of these types of molecules within the tropospheric aerosol system.
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