Sea salt particles react with organic acids in atmosphere

Abstract

Sea salt, or sodium chloride (NaCl), particles lofted into the atmosphere by the motion of ocean waves affect atmospheric chemistry; these particles can undergo reactions with trace atmospheric gases and internal mixing with anthropogenic pollutants depositing on particle surface. Several studies have found that NaCl particles in the atmosphere are depleted in chloride and have attributed this to reactions with inorganic acids. However, reactions with inorganic acids do not fully account for the observed chloride depletion in some locations; it has been suggested that organic acids, likely of anthropogenic origin, may also play a role in chloride depletion, but results have been uncertain.