Substance Abuse: Carbon Tetrachloride and the Ozone Layer*
Ian D. RaeSchool of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia. Email: iandrae@bigpond.com
Ian Rae is an organic chemist who moved from a career in university teaching, research, and administration to become an advisor to Australian governments and the United Nations Environment Program on the health and environmental impacts of chemicals. For a decade, he was co-chair of a technical advisory committee for the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer. An honorary professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne, he is a past president of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and recipient of its Leighton Medal in 2015. |
Australian Journal of Chemistry 69(12) 1375-1379 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH16451
Submitted: 2 August 2016 Accepted: 18 August 2016 Published: 2 September 2016
Abstract
Each year, ~200000 tonnes of carbon tetrachloride are produced and consumed as a solvent, a starting material for synthesis, or in standard methods of analysis. Because it is an ozone-depleting substance, this information is reported on an annual basis to the Montreal Protocol, under which it is a ‘controlled’ substance. Replacing emissive uses of carbon tetrachloride with ozone-friendly chemicals is proceeding slowly. One example is the use of tetrachloroethylene as a replacement for carbon tetrachloride in oil and grease analysis by infrared spectroscopy. Overall, however, there is more carbon tetrachloride in the upper atmosphere than can be accounted for in terms of known uses and emissions. The discrepancy is the subject of intensive and repeated investigation by atmospheric scientists.
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