Nobel laureate F. Sherwood Rowland dies at 84

F. Sherwood Rowland in his office, on the fifth floor of Rowland Hall at UC Irvine. — Gary Robbins

Nobel laureate F. Sherwood Rowland, who discovered that a class of common household chemicals was destroying the ozone layer, endangering the planet, died Saturday at his home in Corona del Mar of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 84. Rowland's death was announced Sunday by his home campus, UC Irvine, a school he helped to build at the same time UC San Diego was being prepared for its first undergraduates.

Rowland and his graduate student, Mario Molino, discovered that the chemicals, known as CFCs, basically caused parts of the ozone layer to dissolve or change, reducing the protection it provided from ultra-violet radiation.

CFCs were then used in everything from hair spray cans to refrigeration units. The discovery led to a prolonged fight in which the chemical industry downplayed the threat of CFCs. The industry also criticized Rowland's work. But other scientists confirmed that Rowland and Molino were right, which has led to worldwide effects to phase out the use of CFCs in most products.

Their research earn Rowland, Molino and collaborator Paul Crutzen the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry, an honor that sort of befuddled Rowland. Although he stood 6' 5'' tall and had a deep, intimidating voice, he was an easy going man who did not like to be the center of attention. He often frustrated reporters by guiding them to the complex scientific papers that formed the basis of his work, rather than simply bask in the limelight of his accomplishments.

“His Nobel Prize-winning research is noteworthy not only for its scientific impact and clarity, but also for the direct effect it has on living things,” said Michael Drake, UCI's chancellor. “His contributions as an architect and citizen of our campus, as teacher, mentor, colleague, and friend, have been instrumental in making us who we are. He was a wonderful man. We would not be who we are, without him.”

Here is a profile I wrote of Rowland in 2007, when I was still working for the Orange County Register:

"It looks like the end of the world," chemist F. Sherwood Rowland told his wife Joan when she asked about an atmospheric study the chemist was laboring over at UC Irvine.

It was December 1973 and Rowland and his postdoctoral researcher, Mario Molina, had quietly concluded that a common class of chemicals known as chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, could seriously damage Earth’s ozone layer.

CFCs seemed harmless; they were used to do everything from fight body odor to keep milk cold and clean ovens. But Rowland and Molina believed that CFCs were rising into the stratosphere, where they caused a chain reaction that destroyed ozone.

And that represented a potentially huge public health problem.

The ozone layer is a thin band of gas that shields people from ultra-violent radiation, a form of light that can cause skin cancer, cataracts and weaken people’s immune systems. Too much UV radiation also can damage crops and marine organisms.

Any threat to the ozone layer represented a threat to the public.


