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In Texas the pollutant that receives the most attention is ozone. Ozone is a molecule composed of the oxygen atoms and is formed when nitrogen oxides (NOx) mix with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in sunlight. NOx comes from many different sources, frequently whenever something is burning, whether it be the fuel in your car or the fuel in a large furnace at a power plant or refinery. Similarly, VOCs come from many different sources including vehicles, petrochemical plants and vegetation. There is not a simple equation that describes the exact formation of ozone, but rather there are numerous chemical reactions and chemical pathways that form pollutants in the atmosphere.
Exhaustive work has been done to develop models that represent the reaction mechanisms of pollutant precursors under a variety of conditions. These models use emission rates and chemistry to identify the type and concentration of pollutants that can be expected to form in the atmosphere. Information about emission rates of pollutants combined with the meteorology determines their spatial and temporal distribution.
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| Page Updated/Reviewed: 02/15/2007 11:18 AM |
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© 2005 - 2008 Texas Environmental Research Consortium
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