| RESEARCH |
Underreporting of CH3CCl3 use European emissions of methyl chloroform (CH3CCl3) have declined greatly since the mid-1990s, but they are higher than reported by European companies. This is the conclusion of research conducted by Stefan Reimann of the Swiss Institute of Materials Science & Technology, Dübendorf, and his colleagues [Nature, 433, 506 (2005)]. CH3CCl3 was used widely as a solvent before it was found to be a stratospheric-ozone-depleting substance. Under the Montreal protocol, it is to be phased out globally by 2015. European emissions declined from about 60,000 metric tons per year in the mid-1990s to less than 3,400 metric tons per year in 2000–03, according to measurements Reimann did at atmospheric research stations in Ireland and Switzerland. CH3CCl3 consumption and emission data reported by European producers, however, add up to less than 100 metric tons per year. If Reimann's measurements are correct, European companies are severely underreporting use of CH3CCl3. Unrecorded sources must exist, Reimann says. |
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