Jc. Yuan et Am. Shiller, The variation of hydrogen peroxide in rainwater over the South and CentralAtlantic Ocean, ATMOS ENVIR, 34(23), 2000, pp. 3973-3980
The concentration of hydrogen peroxide in rainwater over the South and Cent
ral Atlantic Ocean was determined. The rainwater samples were collected dur
ing an Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) sponsored baseline
expedition in May and June 1996. The concentration of hydrogen peroxide was
determined on diluted samples using a cobalt-catalyzed luminol chemilumine
sence method. The concentration of hydrogen peroxide in rainwater varied fr
om 3.5 to 71 mu M with an average (n = 25) and standard deviation of 26 and
22 mu M, respectively. These are similar to previously reported average hy
drogen peroxide concentrations in marine rainwater of the Gulf of Mexico (4
0 mu M), the western Atlantic Ocean (13 mu M), and Florida Keys (28 mu M).
The concentration of hydrogen peroxide in rainwater varied with time of the
day, with lower concentrations in early morning and higher concentrations
in the late afternoon. The rainwater concentration of hydrogen peroxide als
o decreased during a rainstorm that may be an indication of a washout effec
t. The general levels of hydrogen peroxide in rainwater reported here and e
lsewhere together with the satellite-measured global distribution of precip
itation indicate that wet deposition could affect water column hydrogen per
oxide significantly in certain parts of the world. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scienc
e Ltd. All rights reserved.