CF3 CHEMISTRY - POTENTIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STRATOSPHERIC OZONE

Previous evaluations of the impact of fluorine chemistry on stratosphe ric ozone have concluded that the role of fluorine compounds in cataly tic ozone removal is negligible. However, recent investigations of the degradation pathways for compounds containing CF3 groups indicates th at if the reaction of CF3O with O-3 is sufficiently fast, there may be an ozone impact. Some recent measurements indicate that the reaction rate constant of CF3O+O-3 is sufficiently low that the ozone impact is likely to be small. However, it is not possible a-priori to rule out significant ozone removal without additional kinetic data on other rea ctions. We present calculations to illustrate how different key reacti ons affect the calculated stratospheric concentrations of the CF(3)X s pecies (CF3, CF3O, CF3O2, CF3OH, CF3OOH, CF3ONO2, CF3O2NO2, CF3OOCl) a nd their ability to remove stratospheric ozone. We utilize our results to suggest kinetic measurements that could substantially reduce the u ncertainties in CF3 chemistry relevant to the determination of ozone d epletion potential of CF3-bearing compounds.