Los Angeles, Griffith Observatory and air pollution.听 by DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0
Chemical products that contain compounds refined from petroleum, like household cleaners, pesticides, paints and perfumes, now rival motor vehicle emissions as the top source of urban air pollution, according to a surprising NOAA-led study by researchers from CU Boulder听and other institutions.
People use a lot more fuel than they do petroleum-based compounds in chemical products鈥攁bout 15 times more by weight, according to the new assessment. Even so, lotions, paints and other products contribute about as much to air pollution as the transportation sector does, said lead author Brian McDonald, a scientist at the CU Boulder-based working in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration听(NOAA)听Chemical Sciences Division.
In the case of one type of pollution鈥攖iny particles that can damage people鈥檚 lungs鈥攑article-forming emissions from chemical products are about twice as high as those from the transportation sector, his team found. McDonald and colleagues from NOAA and several other institutions reported their results today in the journal .
