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King of greenhouse gases discovered

This highly oblique image of northwestern African captures the curvature of the Earth and atmosphere

Nothing in nature absorbs or breaks down PFBTA, which means it will still be insulating the planet centuries from now (Source: NASA/JPL/UCSD/JSC)

Potent greenhouse gas A chemical used in artificial blood and in the electronics industry traps more of the Sun's heat within the Earth's atmosphere than any other gas known.

Recent research discovered that the chemical, perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), insulates the planet 7100 times more effectively than carbon dioxide.

What's more, nothing in nature absorbs or breaks down the chemical. That means PFTBA will still be insulating the planet centuries from now.

Unlike PFTBA, many other greenhouse gases eventually disappear from the air. For example, plants absorb carbon dioxide and thereby reduce its quantity in the atmosphere.

"PFTBA is extremely long-lived in the atmosphere and it has a very high radiative efficiency; the result of this is a very high global warming potential," says Angela Hong, of the University of Toronto and lead author of the study published in Geophysical Research Letters.

"Calculated over a 100-year time frame, a single molecule of PFTBA has the equivalent climate impact as 7100 molecules of CO2."

Luckily, there isn't much PFTBA in the atmosphere. Although the chemical has been used for decades, the air tested in the recent study contained only 0.18 parts per trillion PFTBA by volume. Other chemicals related to PFTBA may have a similar greenhouse effect, but have not yet been studied.

PFTBA once served as an ingredient in the artificial blood substitute, Fluosol, which is no longer used. PFTBA continues to be used in electronics testing and as a heat transfer agent.

By recognising that PFTBA has such a potential to trap heat, manufacturers can take steps to limit the escape of the gas into the environment.

Currently, no laws regulate the release of PFTBA and similar chemicals. Now that chemists have identified the threat, legislators may find justification to control PFTBA pollution.

Similar efforts slowed the release of CFCs, or chlorofluorocarbons, starting in the late 1980s after a gaping hole was discovered in the ozone layer of Antarctica.

Chemists realised that the hole was caused by CFCs, used in spray cans and as the coolant known by DuPont's brand name 'freon'. Swift legislative action, after the signing of the Montreal Protocol, banned production in many nations.

Tags: climate-change, greenhouse-gas, chemistry